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THE LOEB CLASSICAL LIBRARY

FOUNDED BY JAMES LOEC, LL.I).

EDITED BY
■j-T. E. PAGE, CH., LITT.D.

|E. CAPPS, ph.u., ll.u. fW. H. D. ROUSE, liit.d.

L. A. POST, l.h.u. E. H. WARMINGTON, m.a., f.r.hist.soc.

PLINY

NATURAL HISTORY

VIII

LIBRI XXVIII— XXXII

PLINY

NATURAL HISTORY

WITH AN ENGLISH TRANSLATION
IN TEN VOLUMES

VOLUME VIII
LIBRI XXVIII-XXXII

BY

W. H. S. JONES, Litt.D., F.B.A.,

HONORARY 1'TCLLOVT, ST. CATIIARINE'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE

CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS

HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS

LONDON

WILLIAM HEINEMANN LTD

MCMLXIII

(c) The Presideni and FeUowa of Harvard Goliege 1963

Printed in Oreat Britain

CONTENTS

PAGE

INTRODUCTION Vii

BOOK XXVIII 1

BOOK XXIX 181

book xxx 277

book xxxi 377

book xxxn 463

ADDLTIONAL NOTES 563

POPULAR MEDICTNE IN ANCTENT ITALY 569

LIST OF DISEASES AND AFFECTIONS MENTIONED BY

PLIXY 577

LNDEX OF FISHES 5S5

INTRODUCTION

For the contents of this volunie there must be
notcd the following additions to the authorities
already mentioned:

Codex Bambergensis, the oldest manuscript,
lOth-century, with several correcting hands, styled B.

Codex Toletanus, 13th century, of the same
family as V, R, d, styled T.

Green, Peter, Prolegomena to the study of Magic
and snperstition in the Natural History of Pliny the
Elder, L952, a typed doctoral thesis in the Cambridge
L niversity Library.

Wolters, X. F. M. G., Notes on Antique Folklore
based on Pliny's Natural History XXVIII, 22-29,
Amsterdam 1935.

Professor E. H. Warmington translated Book
XXXII, sections 142-154; and compiled the Index
of Fishes. He expresses his grateful thanks to
Professor A. C. Andrews of the University of Miami
for invaluable help in the identification of aquatic
creatures in Pliny ; and to members of the staff of
the British Museum (Natural History), especially A.
Wheeler, I. Galbraith, Miss J. E. King, Dr. Isabella
Gordon, Miss A. M. Clark, and W. J. Rees, for bring-
ing the scientific nomenclature up to date.

PLINY :

NATURAL HISTORY

BOOK XXVIII

VOL. VIII.

PLINII NATURALIS HISTORIAE
LIBER XXVIII

I. Dicta erat natura omnium rerum inter caelum
ac terram nascentium restabantque quae ex ipsa
tellure fodiuntur, si non herbarum ac fruticum
tractata remedia auferrent traversos ex ipsis animali-
bus quae sanantur reperta maiore medicina. quid
ergo? dixerimus herbas et florum imagines ac
pleraque inventu rara ac difficilia, iidem tacebimus
quid in ipso homine prosit homini ceteraque genera
remediorum inter nos viventia, cum praesertim nisi
carenti doloribus morbisque vita ipsa poena fiat ?

2 minime vero, omnemque insumemus operam, licet
fastidii periculum urgeat, quando ita decretum est,
minorem gratiae quam utilitatium vitae respectum
habere. quin immo externa quoque et barbaros
etiam ritus indagabimus. fides tantum auctores
appellet, quamquam et ipsi consensu prope iudicii
ista eligere laboravimus potiusque curae rerum quam

3 copiae institimus. illud admonuisse perquam neces-

° Or, " to more potent remedies." So Littr6.

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

BOOK XXVIII

I. I should have finished describing the character Remedie»
of all things growing between heaven and earth, m°a?sam
leaving only whatever is dug out of the ground
itself, if dealing with remedies derived from plants and
shrubs did not make me digress to the wider sphere
of medicines a obtained from the very living creatures
that themselves are healed. Well then, shall I, who
have described plants and forms of flowers, in-
cluding many rare things that are difficult to find,
say nothing about the benefits to man that are to be
found in man himself, nothing about the other kinds
of remedies that live among us, especially as life
itself becomes a punishment for those who are not
free from pains and diseases ? Surely I must, and I
shall devote all my care to the task, although I
realize the risk of causing disgust, since it is my
fixed determination to have less regard for popularity
than for benefiting human life. Furthermore,
my investigations will include foreign things and even
outlandish customs ; belief here can appeal only to
authority, although I myself also, when choosing
my detail, have striven to find views almost uni-
versally beiieved, and I have stressed careful re-
search rather than abundance of material. One

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

sarium est, dictas iam a nobis naturas animalium et
quae cuiusque essent inventa — neque enim minus
profuere medicinas reperiendo quam prosunt prae-
bendo — nunc quae in ipsis auxilientur indicari,
neque illic in totum omissa, itaque haec esse quidem
alia, illis tamen conexa.

II. Incipiemus autem ab homine ipsum sibi
exquirente,1 inmensa statim difficultate obvia.
sanguinem quoque gladiatorum bibunt ut viventibus
poculis comitiales [morbi],2 quod spectare facientes
in eadem harena feras quoque horror est. at,
Hercule, illi ex homine ipso sorbere efficacissimum
putant calidum spirantemque et vivam 3 ipsam
animam ex osculo vulnerum, cum plagis omnino ne 4
ferarum quidem admoveri ora mos sit humanus.5 alii
medullas crurum quaerunt et cerebrum infantium.
nec pauci apud Graecos singulorum viscerum mem-
brorumque etiam sapores dixere omnia persecuti ad
resigmina unguium, quasi vero sanitas videri possit
feram ex homine fieri morboque dignum in ipsa
medicina, egregia, Hercules, frustratione, si non
prosit. aspici humana exta nefas habetur, quid

1 exquirente Urlichs : exquirentes RdE : exquirentis V.
8 morbi in uncis Mayhoff. Sed cf. § 7 e t § 35.

3 vivani Detlefsen : unam codd. : una Warmington.

4 omnino ne Mayhoff : omne V2Er : ne Gelenius,
Detlefsen.

6 mos sit humanus Mayhoff : fas sit. humanas Detlefsen.
mos Tf : mus VXR : mus fas V2 : fas Er : humanus omnes
codd.

a See VIII. §§ 97 foU. and XXV. §§ 89 foll.
6 This seems to refer to the difficulty discussed in §§ 10
foll. Perhaps the rest of the chapter is an afterthought of

BOOK XXVIII. i. 3-n. 5

thing it is very necessary to point out : I have
already described a the natures of living creatures
and the discoveries \ve owe to each (for they did no
less good by discovering medicines than they do by
supplying them), I am now showing what help is
to be found in the creatures themselves. I did not
entirely leave out this then ; so although the new
matter is diiferent, it is yet intimately connected
with the old.

II. But I shall begin with man seeking aid for Remedies
himself out of himself, and at the outset there ml\frommm'
meet us a most baffling puzzle./j The blood too of
gladiators is drunk by epileptics as though it were a
draught of life, though we shudder with horror when
in the same arena we look at even the beasts doing
the same thing. But, by Heaven!, the patients
think itfmost effectual to suck from a man himself
warm, living blood, and putting their lips to the
wound c to drain the very life, although it is not the
custom of men to apply their mouths at all to the
wounds even of wild beasts. Others seek to secure
the leg-marrow and the brain of infants. Not a
few among the Greeks have even spoken of the flavour
of each organ and limb, going into all details, not
excluding nail parings ; just as though it could be
thought health for a man to become a beast, and to
deserve disease as punishment in the very process
of healing.d And, by Heaven !, well deserved is the
disappointment if these remedies prove of no avail.
To look at human entrails is considered sin ; what

Pliny; Mayhoff, while reading quoque in his text, suggests
quippe in his textual notes.

e Perhaps, " by kissing the wounds," or, as Littre, " from the
gaping wounds."

d Or : " for the very remedies he adopts."

5

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

6 mandi ? quis ista invenit, Osthane ? tecum enim
res erit, eversor iuris humani monstrorumque artifex
qui primus ea condidisti, credo, ne vita tui oblivis-
ceretur. quis invenit singula membra humana
mandere ? qua coniectura inductus ? quam potest
medicina ista originem habuisse ? quis veneficia
innocentiora fecit quam remedia ? esto, barbari
externique ritus invenerant, etiamne Graeci suas

7 fecere has artes ? extant commentationes Demo-
criti ad aliud noxii hominis ex capite ossa plus
prodesse, ad alia amici et hospitis. iam vero
vi interempti dente gingivas in dolore scariphari
Apollonius emcacissimum scripsit, Meletos oculorum
suffusiones felle hominis sanari. Artemon calvaria
interfecti neque cremati propinavit aquam e fonte
noctu comitialibus morbis. ex eadem suspendio
interempti catapotia fecit contra canis rabiosi

8 morsus Antaeus. atque etiam quadrupedes homine *
sanavere, contra inflationes boum perforatis cornibus
inserentes ossa humana, ubi homo occisus esset aut
crematus siliginem quae pernoctasset suum morbis
dando. procul a nobis nostrisque litteris absint
ista. nos auxilia dicemus, non piacula, sicubi lactis
puerperarum usus mederi poterit, sicubi saliva

9 tactusve corporis ceteraque similia. vitam quidem

1 homine Pintianus, Mayhoff : homines codd.. Detlefsen.

° A Persian Magus of the early fifth century b.c. to whom
were attributed many works on oriental magic.

6 Possibly, " guess-work."

e Diogenes Laertius attributes to this philosopher works on
medicine and regimen, and probabry many spurious works
also were foisted on him.

d Probably a physician who lived in the first century b.c.

* An unknown.

6

BOOK XXVIII. ii. 6-9

must it be to eat them ? Who was the first,
Osthanes,0 to think of such devices as yours ? For
it is you who must bear the blame, you destroyer of
human rights and worker of horrors ; you were their
first founder, in order, I suppose, to perpetuate your
memory. Who first thought of chewing one by
one human limbs ? What soothsaying b guided
him ? What origin could your medical practices
have had ? Who made magic potions more innocent
than their remedies ? Granted that foreigners and
barbarians had discovered the rites, did the Greeks
also make these arts their own ? There is extant a
treatise of Democritus c stating that one complaint
is more benefited by bones from the head of a
criminal, and other complaints by those of a friend
or guest. Moreover, Apollonius d put in writing that
to scrape sore gums with the tooth of a man killed by
violence is most efficacious, and Meletos e that the
gall of a human being cures cataract. Artemon/
treated epilepsy with draughts of water drawn from
a spring by night and drunk out of the skull of a man
killed but not cremated. From the skull of a man
hanged x\ntaeus 9 made pills to cure the bites of a
mad dog. Even quadrupeds too have been cured by
remedies taken from a man ; to cure flatulence in
oxen their horns have been pierced and human
bones inserted ; for sick pigs wheat has been given
which had remained for a whole night where a man
had been killed or cremated. Far from me and my
writings be such horrors. I shall speak not of sins
but of aids, such as when will prove an effective
remedy the milk of lying-in women, or human saliva,
or contact with a human body, and the like. I do

f An unknown. « An unknown.

7

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

non adeo expetendam censemus ut quoquo modo
trahenda sit. quisquis es talis,1 aeque moriere,
etiam cum 2 obscaenus vixeris aut nefandus.
quapropter hoc primum quisque in remediis animi
sui habeat, ex omnibus bonis quae homini tribuit
natura nullum melius esse tempestiva morte, idque
in ea optimum quod illam sibi quisque praestare
poterit.

10 III. Ex homine remediorum primum maximae
quaestionis et semper incertae est, polleantne 3
aliquid verba et incantamenta carminum. quod
si verum est, homini acceptum fieri oportere con-
veniat, sed viritim sapientissimi cuiusque respuit
fides, in universum vero omnibus horis credit vita
nec sentit. quippe victimas caedi sine precatione

11 non videtur referre aut deos rite consuli. praeterea
alia sunt verba inpetritis, alia depulsoriis, alia
commendationis, videmusque certis precationibus
obsecrasse 4 summos magistratus et, ne quod ver-
borum praetereatur aut praeposterum dicatur, de
scripto praeire aliquem rursusque alium custodem
dari qui adtendat, alium vero praeponi qui favere
linguis iubeat, tibicinem canere, ne quid aliud ex-
audiatur, utraque memoria insigni, quotiens ipsae

1 Comma ante talis trans. Mayhoff.

2 etiam cum multi codd., vulg., Detlefsen : etiam quam
VT : tamquam Mayhoff.

3 polleantne VRdTf Mayhoff : valeantne Er vulg., Detlefsen.

4 obsecrasse] obsecrare coni. Mayhoff.

a With MayhofFs reading : " Whoever you are, as such
you will die, just as if your life will have been one of foulness
or sin."

8

BOOK XXVIII. ii. 9-111. n

not indeed hold that life ought to be so prized that
by any and every means it should be prolonged.
You holding this view, whoever you are, will none
the less die, even though you may have lived longer
through foulness or sin.° Wherefore let every man
consider that first among the remedies for his soul
is this : that of all the blessings given to man by
Nature none is greater than a timely death, and herein
the brightest feature is that each man can have the
power to bestow it on himself.

III. Of the remedies derived from man, the first Havewords
raises a most important question, and one never power-
settled : have words and formulated incantations
any effect ? If they have, it would be right and
proper to give the credit to mankind. As individuals,
however, all our wisest men reject belief in them,
although as a body the public at all times believes in
them unconsciously. In fact the sacrifice of victims
without a prayer is supposed to be of no effect ;
without it too the gods are not thought to be properly
consulted. Moreover, there is one form of words
for getting favourable omens, another for averting
evil, and yet another for a commendation. We see
also that our chief magistrates have adopted fixed
formulas for their prayers ; that to prevent a word's
being omitted or out of place a reader dictates
beforehand the prayer from a script ; that another
attendant is appointed as a guard to keep watch,
and yet another is put in charge to maintain a strict
silence ; that a piper plays so that nothing but the
prayer is heard. Remarkable instances of both kinds
of interference are on record : cases when the noise of
actual ill omens has ruined the prayer, or when a mis-
take has been made in the prayer itself ; then sud-

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

dirae obstrepentes nocuerint quotiensve precatio
erraverit, sic repente extis adimi capita vel corda

12 aut geminari victima stante. durat inmenso exemplo
Deciorum patris filiique quo se devovere carmen,
extat Tucciae Vestalis incesti deprecatio qua usa
aquam in cribro tulit anno urbis DXYIIII. boario
vero in foro Graecum Graecamque defossos aut
aliarum gentium cum quibus tum res esset etiam
nostra aetas vidit. cuius sacri precationem qua
solet praeire XVvirum collegii magister si quis
legat, profecto vim carminum fateatur, ea omnia
adprobantibus DCCCXXX annorum eventibus.

13 Vestales nostras hodie credimus nondum egressa
urbe mancipia fugitiva retinere in loco precatione,
cum, si semel recipiatur ea ratio et deos preces
aliquas exaudire aut ullis moveri verbis, confitendum
sit de tota coniectatione. prisci quidem nostri
perpetuo talia prodidere, dimcillimumque ex his
etiam fulmina elici, ut suo loco docuimus.

14 IV. L. Piso primo annalium auctor est Tullum
Hostilium regem ex Numae libris eodem quo illum
sacrificio Iovem caelo devocare conatum, quoniam
parum rite quaedam fecisset, fulmine ictum, multi
vero magnarum rerum fata et ostenta verbis per-

See Livy VIII. 9 and X. 28.

See Valerius Maximus VIII. 1.

145 b.c.

Plutarch Roman Questions 283.

Or: "all magical charms must be accepted."

See Book II. § 140.

Consul in 133 B.e. and an opponent of the Gracchi.

BOOK XXVIII. iii. ii-iv. 14

denlv the head of the liver, or the heart, has dis-
appeared from the entrails, or these have been
doubled, while the victim was standing. There has
come down to us a striking example of ritual in that
with which the Decii,° father and son, devoted them-
selves ; extant too is the plea of innocence uttered by
the Vestal Tuccia b when, accused of unchastity, she
carried water in a sieve, in the year of the City six
hundred and nine.c Our own generation indeed even
saw buried alive in the Cattle Market a Greek man
and a Greek woman, and victims from other peoples
with whom at the time we were at war.d The prayer
used at this ceremony is wont to be dictated by the
Master of the College of the Quindecimviri, and if one
reads it one is forced to admit that there is power in
ritual formulas, the events of eight hundred and thirty
years showing this for all of them. It is believed
today that our Vestal virgins by a spell root to the
spot runawav slaves, provided they have not left the
City bounds, and yet, if this view is once admitted,
that the gods hear certain prayers, or are moved
by any form of words, the whole question must be
answered in the affirmative/ Our ancestors, indeed,
reported such wonders again and again, and that,
most impossible of all, even lightning can be brought
by charms from the sky, as I have mentioned/ on
the proper occasion.

IV. Lucius Piso 9 in the first Book of his Annals
tells us that King Tullus Hostilius used the same
sacrificial ritual as Xuma, which he found in Xuma's
books, in an attempt to draw Jupiter down from the
sky, and was struck by lightning because he made
certain mistakes in the ceremony ; many indeed
assure us that by words the destinies and omens of

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

15 mutari. cum in Tarpeio fodientes delubro funda-
menta caput humanum invenissent, missis ob id ad
se legatis Ktruriae celeberrimus vates Olenus Calenus
praeclarum id fortunatumque cernens interrogatione
in suam gentem transferre temptavit. scipione prius
determinata templi imagine in solo ante se : Hoc
ergo dicitis, Romani ? hic templum Iovis optimi
maximi futurum est, hic caput invenimus ? constan-
tissima annalium adfirmatione transiturum fuisse
fatum in Etruriam, ni praemoniti a filio vatis legati
Romani respondissent : Non plane hic sed Romae

16 inventum caput dicimus. iterum id accidisse tra-
dunt, cum in fastigium eiusdem delubri praeparatae
quadrigae fictiles in fornace crevissent, et iterum

17 simili modo retentum augurium. haec satis sint
exemplis ut appareat ostentorum vires et in nostra
potestate esse ac prout quaeque accepta sint ita
valere. in augurum certe disciplina constat neque
diras neque ulla auspicia pertinere ad eos qui
quamcumque * rem ingredientes observare se ea
negaverint, quo munere divinae indulgentiae maius
nullum est. quid ? non et legum ipsarum in duo-

18 decim tabulis verba sunt : qui fruges excantassit, et
alibi : qui malum carmen incantassit ? Verrius Flaccus
auctores ponit quibus credatur 2 in obpugnationibus

1 qui quamcumque coni. Mayhoff : quicumque Detlefsen :
qui quamque Mayhoff in textu, RdE vulg. : quicquam quae V.

2 credatur Warmington : credat codd.

a Perhaps " obviously."

6 See Remains of Old Latin (Loeb) vol. III, pp. 474, 475 and
478, 479.

c A distinguished writer of the latter part of the first
century b.c. He wrote on history and antiquities, dying in
the reign of Tiberius.

BOOK XXVIII. iv. 15-18

mighty events are changed. During the digging
of foundations for a shrine on the Tarpeian Hill
there was discovered a human head. For an inter-
pretation envoys were sent to Olenus of Cales, the
most distinguished seer of Etruria. Perceiving that
the sign portended glory and success, Olenus tried
by questioning to divert the blessing to his own
people. He first traced with his staff the outline of a
temple on the ground in front of him, and then
asked: " Is this then, Romans, what you say?
' Here will be the temple of Jupiter, All-good and
Almighty ; here we found the head ? ' ' The Annals
most firmly insists that the destiny of Rome would
have passed to Etruria, had not the Roman envoys,
forewarned by the seer's son, replied : " Not exactly °
here, but it was in Rome that we say the head was
found." It is said that the same thing happened
again when a clay four-horse chariot, designed for the
roof of the same shrine, grew larger in the furnace,
and once more in a similar way was the happy
augury retained. Let these instances suffice to show
that the power of omens is really in our own con-
trol, and that their influence is conditional upon the
way we receive each. At any rate, in the teaching of
the augurs it is a fundamental principle that neither
evil omens nor any auspices affect those who at the
outset of any undertaking declare that they take
no notice of them ; no greater instance of the divine
mercy could be found than this boon. Again, in
the actual laws of the Twelve Tables we find also
thesewords:6 " Whoever shall have bewitched the
crops," and in another place : " whoever shall have
cast an evil spell." Verrius Flaccus c cites trustworthy
authorities to show that it was the custom, at the

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

ante omnia solitum a Romanis sacerdotibus evocari
deum cuius in tutela id oppidum esset promittique
illi eundem aut ampliorem apud Romanos cultum.
et durat in pontificum disciplina id sacrum, constat-
que ideo occultatum in cuius dei tutela Roma esset,

19 ne qui hostium simili modo agerent. defigi quidem
diris deprecationibus nemo non metuit. hoc pertinet
ovorum quae exorbuerit quisque calices coclearum-
que protinus frangi aut isdem coclearibus perforari.
hinc Theocriti apud Graecos, Catulli apud nos
proximeque Vergilii incantamentorum amatoria imi-
tatio. multi figlinarum opera rumpi credunt tali
modo, non pauci etiam serpentes ; ipsas recanere
et hunc unum illis esse intellectum contrahique
Marsorum cantu etiam in nocturna quiete. etiam x
parietes incendiorum deprecationibus conscribuntur.

20 neque est facile dictu externa verba atque ineffabilia
abrogent fidem validius an Latina inopinata et 2
quae inridicula videri cogit animus semper aliquid
inmensum exspectans ac dignum deo movendo,

21 immo vero quod numini imperet. dixit Homerus
profluvium sanguinis vulnerato femine Ulixen inhi-
buisse carmine, Theophrastus ischiadicos sanari,
Cato prodidit luxatis membris carmen auxiliare,

1 etiam multi codd. Detlefsen : iam d, Mayhoff.

2 et post Latina trans. Mayhoff.

■ See Idyll II.

6 See Eclogues VIII. The Catullus passages are not extant.

c Referring to the so-called Ephesia grammata and gibberish
of many incantations.

d See Odyssey XIX. 457, where it is not Odysseus, but
Autolycus and his sons that effect the cure.

8 See Athenaeus XIV. 18.

14

BOOK XXVIII. iv. 18-21

very beginning of a siege, for the Roman priests
to call forth the divinity under whose protection
the besieged town was, and to promise him the
same or even more splendid worship among the
Roman people. Down to the present day this
ritual has remained part of the doctrine of the
Pontiffs, and it is certain that the reason why the
tutelary deity of Rome has been kept a secret
is to prevent any enemy from acting in a similar
way. There is indeed nobody who does not fear
to be spell-bound by imprecations. A similar feel-
ing makes everybody break the shells of eggs or
snails immediately after eating them, or else
pierce them with the spoon that they have used.
And so Theocritus ° among the Greeks, Catullus
and quite recently Virgil b among ourselves, have
represented love charms in their poems. Many
believe that by charms pottery can be crushed,
and not a few even serpents ; that these themselves
can break the spell, this being the only kind of
intelligence they possess ; and by the charms of the
Marsi they are gathered together even when asleep
at night. On walls too are written prayers to avert
fires. It is not easy to say whether our faith is more
violently shaken by the foreign, unpronounceable
words,c or by the unexpected Latin ones, which
our mind forces us to consider absurd, being always
on the look-out for something big, something ade-
quate to move a god, or rather to impose its will on
his divinity. Homer said that by a magic formula
Ulvsses d stayed the haemorrhage from his wounded
thigh ; Theophrastus e that there is a formula to
cure sciatica ; Cato / handed down one to set dis-

/ See Cato CLX.

15

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

M. Yarro podagris. Caesarem dictatorem post
unum ancipitem vehiculi casum ferunt semper ut
primum consedisset, id quod plerosque nunc facere
scimus, carmine ter repetito securitatem itinerum
aucupari solitum.

22 V. Libet hanc partem singulorum quoque con-
scientia coarguere. cur enim primum anni inci-
pientes * diem laetis precationibus invicem faustum
ominamur? cur publicis lustris etiam nomina
victimas ducentium prospera eligimus ? cur effasci-
nationibus adoratione peculiari occurrimus, alii
Graecam Nemesin invocantes, cuius ob id Romae
simulacrum in Capitolio est, quamvis Latinum

23 nomen non sit ? cur ad mentionem defunctorum
testamur memoriam eorum a nobis non sollicitari?
cur inpares numeros ad omnia vehementiores cre-
dimus, idque in febribus dierum observatione intel-
legitur? cur ad primitias pomorum haec vetera
esse dicimus, alia nova optamus ? cur sternuentes
salutamus, quod etiam Tiberium Caesarem, tristis-
simum, ut constat, hominum in vehiculo exegisse
tradunt, et aliqui nomine quoque consalutare re-

24 ligiosius putant ? quin et absentes tinnitu aurium
praesentire sermones de se receptum est. Attalus
adfirmat, scorpione viso si quis dicat duo, cohiberi
nec vibrare ictus, et quoniam scorpio admonuit, in

1 incipientes V( ?)E Detlefsen : incipientis Mayhoff.

a See Varro R.R. I. ii. 27.

6 Or (Wolters), " their rest is not being disturbed."

c Or, " the more scrupulous think that they must."

d Probably not Attalus III, King of Pergamus, who died

in 133 b.c. Perhaps an unknown physician. See Wolters, p. 52.
6 " Africa was personified, in the time of Hadrian, as a

woman, represented in divers ways on bronze coins, with a

scorpion in her hand or on her head " (Wolters, p. 56).

16

BOOK XXVIII. iv. 21-V. 24

located limbs, Marcus Yarro ° one for gout. The
dictator Caesar, after one serious accident to his
carriage, is said ahvays, as soon as he was seated, to
have been in the habit of repeating three times a
formula of prayer for a safe journey, a thing we know
that most people do today.

V. I should like to reinforce this part of my whyare
argument by adding an appeal to the personal JtftSET
feeling of the individual. Why on the first day of the
year do we wish one another cheerfully a happy
and prosperous New Year ? Why do we also, on
days of general purification, choose persons with
lucky names to lead the victims ? Why do we
meet the evil eye by a special attitude of prayer,
some invoking the Greek Nemesis, for which purpose
there is at Rome an image of the goddess on the
Capitol, although she has no Latin name ? Why
on mentioning the dead do we protest that their
memory is not being attacked by us ? b Why do we
believe that in all matters the odd numbers are
more powerful, as is implied by the attention
paid to critical days in fevers ? Whj at the harvest
of the first-fruits do we say : " These are old," and
pray for new ones to take their place ? Why do
we say " Good health " to those who sneeze ? This
custom according to report even Tiberius Caesar,
admittedly the most gloomy of men, insisted on
even in a carriage, and some think it more effective c
to add to the salutation the name of the sneezer.
Moreover, according to an accepted belief absent
people can divine by the ringing in their ears that
they are the object of talk. Attalus d assures us that
if on seeing a scorpion one says " Two," it is checked
and does not strike. The mention of scorpions e

17

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

Africa nemo destinat aliquid nisi praefatus Africam,in
ceteris vero gentibus deos ante obtestatus ut velint.
nam si mensa adsit,1 anulum ponere translatitium
videmus, quoniam etiam mutas2 religiones pollere

25 manifestum est. alius saliva post aurem digito
relata sollicitudinem animi propitiat. pollices, cum
faveamus, premere etiam proverbio iubemur. in
adorando dextram ad osculum referimus totumque
corpus circumagimus, quod in laevum fecisse Galliae
religiosius credunt. fulgetras poppysmis adorare

26 consensus gentium est. incendia inter epulas nomi-
nata aquis sub mensam profusis abominamur.
recedente aliquo ab epulis simul verri solum aut
bibente conviva mensam vel repositorium tolli in-
auspicatissimum iudicatur. Ser. Sulpicii principis
viri commentatio est quamobrem mensa linquenda 3
non sit, nondum enim plures quam convivae numera-
bantur. nam sternumento revocari ferculum men-
samve, si non postea gustetur aliquid, inter diras

1 mensa adsit VRd, Mayhoff : mens adflicta sit Detlefsen.

2 mutas Sillig : multas codd. : quin etiam mutas . . . est ;
nam si mensa adsit Wolters.

3 linquenda codd. : admovenda Wolters, qui nondum . . .
numerabantur in uncis ponit.

a Mayhoff would emend this dubious Plinian nam to iam,
which is an improvement, but to transpose the clauses of this
sentence (with Wolters) makes it possible to give nam its
usual meaning : " Moreover, it is clear that actions even
without words have powers, for it is a universal custom, we
see, etc."

18

BOOK XXVIII. v. 24-26

reminds me that in Africa nobody decides on any-

thing without first saying " Africa," whereas among

all other peoples a man prays first for the approval

of the gods. But a when a table is ready it is a

universal custom, we see, to take offone's ring, since

it is clear that scrupulous actions, even without words,

have their powers. Some people, to calm mental

anxiety, carry saliva with the finger to behind the ear.

There is even a proverb that bids us turn down b our

thumbs to show approval. In worshipping we

raise our right hand to our lips and turn round our

whole body, the Gauls considering it more effective c

to make the turn to the left. All peoples agree in

worshipping lightning by clucking with the tongue. superstition*

If during a banquet fires have been mentioned we nt table-

avert the omen by pouring water under the table.

It is supposed to be a most unlucky sign for the floor

to be swept while a diner is leaving the banquet, or

for a table or dumb-waiter to be removed while a

guest is drinking. Servius Sulpicius/* a noble Roman,

has left an essay on why we should not leave the

table ; € for in his day it was not the custom to have

more tables than there were guests ; for if a course

or a table is recalled by a sneeze and nothing of it

tasted afterwards, it is considered an evil portent, as

6 See Mayor on Juvenal III. 36. Wolters translates
premere " to enclose."

c So Wolters, making religiosius objective. Perhaps,
however, it is subjective, meaning " more devout."

d A contemporary of Cicero, who took part in the troublous
politics of the period.

e A difficult sentence. Wolters reads admovenda for
linquenda and brackets nondum . . . numerabantur as a gloss.
He also brackets aut omnino non esse. Much of the difficulty
of this passage comes from the ambiguity of the word mensa.
See the additional note A, page 563.

19

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

27 habetur, aut omnino non1 esse. haec instituere illi
qui omnibus negotiis horisque interesse credebant
deos, et ideo placatos etiam vitiis nostris reliquerunt.
quin et repente conticescere convivium adnotatum
est 2 non nisi in pari praesentium numero, isque
famae labor est ad quemcumque eorum pertinens.
cibus etiam e manu prolapsus reddebatur 3 utique
per mensas, vetabantque munditiarum causa deflare,
et sunt condita auguria, quid loquenti cogitantive
id acciderit, inter execratissima, si pontifici accidat
dicis causa epulanti. in mensa utique id reponi

28 adolerique ad Larem piatio est. medicamenta
priusquam adhibeantur in mensa forte deposita
negant prodesse. ungues resecari nundinis Romanis
tacenti atque a digito indice multorum persuasione 4
religiosum est, capillum vero contra defluvia ac
dolores capitis XVII luna atque XXVIIII. pagana
lege in plerisque Italiae praediis cavetur ne mulieres
per itinera ambulantes torqueant fusos aut omnino
detectos ferant, quoniam adversetur id omnium spei,

29 praecipue frugum. M. Servilius Nonianus princeps

1 non Oelenius : nam E : inane fere omnes codd., Mayhoff,
qui lacunam post habetur indicat : del. aut . . . esse Wolters.

2 est codd. : set Mayhoff.

3 Ante reddebatur addit non Wolters.

4 multorum persuasione Mayhoff : mulierum peculiare
Detlefsen : multorum pecuniae codd. Fortasse opinione
(Haupt).

° This could mean : " either considered an evil portent or
none at all." (Warmington.)

6 Littre says " malgre nos vices."

e So Bostock and Riley, and also Wolters, but Littre has :
" de l'un quelconque d'entre eux."

d The emendation of Wolters : " used not to be put back,"
is more in accordance with customs elsewhere.

20

BOOK XXVIII. v. 26-29

is to eat nothing at all.° These customs were estab-
lished by those of old, who believed that gods are
present 011 all occasions and at all times, and there-
fore left them to us reconciled even in our faults.5
Moreover, it has been remarked that a sudden silence
falls on a banquet only when the number of those
present is even, and that it portends danger to the
reputation of each c of them. Food also that fell from
the hand used to be put back d at least during courses,
and it was forbidden to blow off, for tidiness, any
dirt ; e auguries have been recorded from the words
or thoughts of the diner who dropped food, a very
dreadful omen being if the Pontiff should do so at a
formal dinner. In any case putting it back on the
table and burning it before the Lar counts as expia-
tion./ Medicines set down by chance on a table
before being used are said to lose their efficacy.
To cut the nails on the market days at Rome in various
silence, beginning with the forefinger, is a custom °stitionsf
many people feel binding on them ; while to cut the
hair on the seventeenth day of the month and on the
twenty-ninth prevents its falling out as well as
headaches. A country rule observed on most
Italian farms forbids women to twirl their spindles
while walking along the road, or even to carry them
uncovered, on the ground that such action blights
the hopes of everything, especially the hope of a
good harvest. Marcus Servilius Nonianus,? a leading

e Wolters thinks that deflare here means, " to remove." Per-
haps: " blow off any crumbs to tidy up." So Warmington.

f Wolters translates " as sin." He says that piatio here
is the same as piaculum, holding that dropped food was left
where it was.

9 Consul a.d. 35, died 59, and known personally to Pliny,
who mentions him several times.

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORV

civitatis non pridem in metu lippitudinis, priusquam
ipse eam nominaret aliusve ei praediceret, duabus
litteris Graecis PA chartam inscriptam circumligatam
lino subnectebat collo, Mucianus ter consul eadem
observatione viventem muscam in linteolo albo,
his remediis carere ipsos lippitudine praedicantes.
carmina quidem extant contra grandines contraque
morborum genera contraque ambusta, quaedam
etiam experta, sed prodendo obstat ingens verecundia
in tanta animorum varietate. quapropter de his
ut cuique Hbitum fuerit opinetur.

30 VI. Hominum monstrificas naturas et veneficos
aspectus diximus in portentis gentium et multas
animalium proprietates, quae repeti supervacuum
est. quorundam hominum tota corpora prosunt,
ut ex his familiis quae sunt terrori serpentibus
tactu ipso levant percussos suctuve madido,1 quorum
e genere sunt Psylli Marsique et qui Ophiogenes
vocantur in insula Cypro, ex qua familia legatus
Evagon nomine a consulibus Romae in dolium
serpentium coniectus experimenti causa circum-

31 mulcentibus linguis miraculum praebuit. signum
eius familiae est, si modo adhuc durat, vernis tem-
poribus odoris virus. atque eorum sudor quoque

1 madido E Detlefsen : modo Mayhoff : tumodo R :
tumido multi codd.

a These letters have no hidden meaning ; " they probably
belong to the abracadabra of magic " (Wolters). Perhaps
they were intended to be the last two letters of it.

6 C. Licinius Mucianus was consul for the third time in
A.D. 72. Jn (58-69 he was governor of Syria with a command
of four legions. See Tacitus Histories I. 10.

c SeeBook VII. S§ 1 3 foll.

BOOK XXVIII. v. 29-vi. 31

citizen of Rome, who was not so long ago afraid
of ophthalmia, used to tie round his neck, before he
mentioned the disease himself or any one else
spoke to him about it, a sheet of paper fastened
with thread, on which were written the two Greek
letters rho and alpha ; ° Mucianus,^ three times
consul, following the same observance, used a living
fly in a white linen bag. Both avowed that by
these remedies they themselves were kept free from
ophthalmia. We certainly still have formulas to
charm away hail, various diseases, and burns, some
actually tested by experience, but I am very shy of
quoting them, because of the widely different feel-
ings they arouse. Wherefore everyone must form
his own opinion about them as he pleases.

VI. Persons possessed of powers of witchcraft Peopie witfi
and of the e\il eye, along with many peculiar ^wels.
characteristics of animals, I have spoken of c when
dealing with marvels of the nations ; it is superfluous
to go over the ground again. Of certain men the
whole bodies are beneflcent, for example the members
of those families that frighten serpents. These
by a mere touch or by wet suction d relieve bitten
victims. In this class are the Psylli, the Marsi,
and the Ophiogenes, as they are called, in the island
of Cyprus. An envoy from this family, by name
Evagon, was at Rome thrown by the consuls as a
test into a cask of serpents, which to the general
amazement licked him all over. A feature of
this family, if it still survives, is the foul smell of its
members in spring. Their sweat also, not only

d There is much to be said for MayhofFs modo, " only."
But madido suggests that much fluid was drawn from the
wound. Salmasius in fact conjectured umido.

23

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

medebatur, non modo saliva. nam in insula Nili
Tentyri nascentes tanto sunt crocodilis terrori ut
vocem quoque eorum fugiant. horum omnium
generum insita * repugnantia interventum quoque
mederi constat, sicuti adgravari vulnera introitu
eorum qui umquam fuerint serpentium canisve dente

32 laesi. iidem gallinarum incubitus, pecorum fetus
abortu vitiant. tantum remanet virus ex accepto
semel malo ut venefici fiant venena passi. remedio
est ablui prius manus eorum aquaque illa eos quibus
medearis inspergi. rursus a scorpione aliquando
percussi numquam postea a crabronibus, vespis

33 apibusve feriuntur. minus miretur hoc qui sciat
vestem a tineis non attingi quae fuerit in funere,
serpentes aegre praeterquam laeva manu extrahi.
e Pythagorae inventis non temere fallere,2 in-
positivorum nominum inparem vocalium numerum
clauditates oculive orbitatem ac similes casus dextris
adsignare partibus, parem laevis. ferunt difficiles
partus statim solvi, cum quis tectum in quo sit gravida
transmiserit lapide vel missili ex his qui tria animalia
singulis ictibus interfecerint, hominem, aprum,

34 ursum. probabilius id facit hasta velitaris evulsa
corpori hominis, si terram non attigerit. eosdem
enim inlata effectus habet. sic et sagittas corpori
eductas, si terram non attigerint, subiectas cubantibus

1 insita Mayhoff : in sua codd.

2 fallere] Mayhoff fallare coni., ut arbitrere XI § 82.

a I.e. to disease, poison etc.

6 The Thesaurus gives impositus and inditus as equivalents
of impositivus. A nomen impositivum would be any name

24

BOOK XXVIII. vi. 31-34

their saliva, had curative powers. But the natives
of Tentyris, an island on the Nile, are such a terror
to the crocodiles that these run away at the mere
sound of their voice. All these peoples, so strong
their natural antipathy,a can, as is well known,
effect a cure by their very arrival, just as wounds
grow worse on the entry of those who have ever
been bitten by the tooth of snake or dog. The latter
also addle the eggs of a sitting hen, and make cattle
miscarry ; so much venom remains from the injury
once received that the poisoned are turned into
poisoners. The remedy is for their hands to be first
washed in water, which is then used to sprinkle on
the patients. On the other hand, those who have
once been stung by a scorpion are never afterwards
attacked by hornets, wasps or bees. He may be
less surprised at this who knows that moths do not
touch a garment that has been worn at a funeral,
and that snakes are with difficulty pulled out of their Vi
holes except with the left hand. One of the dis- kl
coveries of Pythagoras will not readily deceive you :
that an uneven number of vowels in given b names
portends lameness, blindness, or similar disability, on
the right side, an even number of vowels the same dis-
abilities on the left. It is said that difficult labour ends
in delivery at once, if over the house where is the
lying-in woman there be thrown a stone or missile that
has killed with one stroke each three living creatures
— a human being, a boar, and a bear. A successful
result is more likely if a light-cavalry spear is used,
pulled out from a human body without the ground
being touched. The result indeed is the same if the

other than those the individual could not avoid (e.g. the family
name).

25

arious
nds of
magic power.

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

amatorium esse Orpheus et Archelaus scribunt,
quin et comitiales morbos sanari cibo e carne ferae
occisae eodem ferro quo homo interfectus sit.
quorundam partes medicae sunt, sicuti diximus de
Pyrrhi regis pollice, et Elide solebat ostendi Pelopis
scapula,1 quam eburneam adfirmabant. naevos in
facie tondere religiosum habent etiam nunc multi.

35 VII. Omnium vero in primis ieiunam salivam
contra serpentes praesidio esse docuimus, sed et
alios efficaces eius usus recognoscat vita. despuimus
eomitiales morbos, hoc est contagia regerimus.
simili modo et fascinationes repercutimus dextraeque

36 clauditatis occursum. veniam quoque a deis spei
alicuius audacioris petimus in sinum spuendo, et iam 2
eadem ratione terna despuere precatione 3 in omni
medicina mos est, atque ita eifectus adiuvare,
incipientes furunculos ter praesignare ieiuna saliva.
mirum dicimus, sed experimento facile : si quem
paeniteat ictus eminus comminusve inlati et statim

1 scapula quam Oronovius, Detlefsen, qui lacunam indicat :
os ulnamque eam Mayhoff : pro scapula varia (ostilnam,
ostiliam, ostiliani) codd.

2 et iam Detlefsen, Mayhoff, qui etenim vel multis etiam
coni. : etiam Er : orn. plerique codd.

3 precatione Urlichs, Mayhoff : deprecatione Detlefsen,
vulg. : praedicatione codd. : an pro precatione ?

° Many spurious works of a medical nature were attributed
to the Orpheus of mythology.

6 Archelaus was possibly the Greek poet living in Egypt,
some of whose epigrams are in the Anthology.

e See Book VII. § 20.

d Pausanias (V. 13, 4) says that the bone was the cb^oTrXaTr]
(shoulder blade), and that it had disappeared (r)<f>dvt,oTo)
by his time. MayhofTs conjecture would mean " elbow."

e Mayhoff brackets the last sentence, which seems out of
place.
26

BOOK XXVIII. vi. 34-vii. 36

spear is carried indoors. So too, as Orpheus a and
Archelaus b write, arrows drawn out of a body and
not allowed to touch the ground act as a love-charm
upon those under whom when in bed they have been
placed. Moreover, add these authorities, epilepsy
is cured by food taken from the flesh of a wild beast
killed by the same iron weapon that has killed a
human being. Some men have healing powers con-
fined to parts of their body. We have mentioned the
thumb of King Pyrrhus,c and at Elis there used to be
shown a shoulder blade d of Pelops, which was stated
to be of ivory. Many men even today have scruples
about cutting hair from moles on the face/

VII. I have however pointed out that the best Remediai
of all safeguards against serpents is the saliva of a human
fasting human being, but our daily experience 5a^ia-
may teach us / yet other values of its use. We
spit on epileptics in a fit, that is, we throw back
infection.? In a similar way we ward off witch-
craft and the bad luck that follows meeting a
person lame in the right leg. We also ask forgiveness
of the gods for a too presumptuous hope by spitting
into our bosom ; the same reason again accounts
for the custom, in using any remedy, of spitting
on the ground three times by way of ritual/* thus in-
creasing its efficacy, and of marking early incipient
boils three times with fasting saliva. It is surprising,
but easily tested, that if one is sorry for a blow,
whether inflicted by hand or by a missile, and at once

f Or, " should examine."

' From hoc to regerimus may be a gloss.

h A curious ablative. Perhaps pro precatione or cum pre-
catione. Spitting three times is a regular part of preparing or
giving medicine or treatment.

27

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

expuat in mediam manum qua percussit, levatur
ilico in percusso culpa.1 hoc saepe delumbata
quadrupede adprobatur statim a tali remedio correcto

37 animalis ingressu. quidam vero adgravant ictus
ante conatum simili modo saliva in manum ingesta.
credamus ergo et lichenas leprasque ieiunae inlitu
adsiduo arceri, item lippitudines matutina cottidie
velut inunctione, carcinomata j*malo terrae subacto,f2
cervicis dolores saliva ieiuni dextra manu ad dextrum
poplitem relata, laeva ad sinistrum, si quod animal

38 aurem intraverit et inspuatur, exire. inter amuleta
est editae quemque urinae inspuere, similiter in
calciamentum dextri pedis priusquam induatur,
item cum quis transeat locum in quo aliquod periculum
adierit. Marcion Zmyrnaeus, qui de simplicibus
effectibus scripsit, rumpi scolopendras marinas sputo
tradit, item rubetas aliasque ranas, Ofilius serpentes,
si quis in hiatum earum expuat, Salpe torporem
sedari quocumque membro stupente, si quis in sinum
expuat aut si superiores palpebrae saliva tangantur.3

39 nos si haec et illa 4 credamus rite fieri, extranei
interventu aut, si dormiens spectetur infans, a

1 culpa codd. : poena vulg. : Mayhoff plaga coni.

2 malo terrae subacto] Mayhoff terra ea subacta coni.
sed putat locum nondum sanatum esse.

3 superiores palpebrae saliva tangantur ego : superiores
palpebras saliva tangat. cur Mayhoff : superior palpebra
multi codd. : tangantur (Vr), tangatur, tangant codd.

4 Nos si haec et illa Hermolaus Barbarus : eo magis
Detlefsen : non et Mayhoff : nos aut eos codd.

a See critical note and Jndex of Plants in vol. VII. There
is perhaps a lacuna, or subacto may be corrupt.

28

BOOK XXVIII. vii. 36-39

spits into the palm of the hand that gave the wound,
the resentment of the victim is immediately softened.
Corroborative evidence is often seen in draught
animals ; when the animal has been flogged to lame-
ness, after the remedy of spitting has been tried,
it at once resumes its pace. Some persons indeed
add force to their blows in a similar way by spitting
into the hand before making their effort. Let us
therefore believe that lichens too and leprous sores
are kept in check by continual application of fast-
ing saliva, as is also ophthalmia by using saliva
every morning as eye ointment, carcinomata by
kneading earth apple ° with saliva, and pains in the
neck by applying fasting saliva with the right
hand to the right knee and with the left hand to the
left knee ; let us also believe that any insect that
has entered the ear, if spat upon, comes out. It
acts as a charm for a man to spit on the urine he has
voided ; similarly to spit into the right shoe before
putting it on, also when passing a place where one
has run into some danger. \Iarcion of Smyrna,b
who wrote on the virtues of simples, tells us that the
sea scolopendra bursts if spat upon, as do also
bramble and other toads. Ofilius c says that ser-
pents too burst if one spits into their open mouths,
and Salpe d that sensation in any numbed limb is
restored by spitting into the bosom, or if the upper
eyelids are touched with saliva. If we hold these
beliefs, we should also believe that the right course,
on the arrival of a stranger, or if a sleeping baby
is looked at, is for the nurse to spit three times at

6 An unknown.

c Perhaps an error for Opilius, whieh is read by the MS d.

d A woman of Lemnos who wrote on the diseases of women.

29

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

nutrice terna adspui ? * quamquam 2 religione tutatur
et Fascinus, imperatorum quoque, non solum infan-
tium custos, qui deus inter sacra Romana a Vestalibus
colitur et currus triumphantium sub his pendens
defendit medicus invidiae, iubetque eosdem respi-
cere 3 similis medicina linguae, ut sit exorata a
tergo Fortuna gloriae carnifex.

40 VIII. Morsus hominis inter asperrimos quosque
numeratur. medentur sordes ex auribus ac, ne
quis miretur, etiam scorpionum ictibus serpentium-
que statim inpositae, melius ex percussi auribus.
produnt ita et reduvias sanari, serpentium vero
ictum contusi dentis humani farina.

41 IX. Capillus puero qui primum decisus est poda-
grae inpetus dicitur levare circumligatus, et in
totum inpubium inpositus. virorum quoque capillus
canis morsibus medetur ex aceto et capitum volneri-
bus ex oleo aut vino ; si credimus, a revulso cruci
quartanis, conbustus utique capillus carcinomati.
pueri qui primus ceciderit dens, ut terram non
attingat, inclusus in armillam et adsidue in bracchio

42 habitus muliebrium locorum dolores prohibet. pollex
in pede praeligatus proximo digito tumores inguinum

1 adspui codd. et edd. : despui C. F. W. Muller.

2 quamquam E Detlefsen : in os ? quamquam Mayhoff :
quamquam illos VRdT.

3 respicere Gronovius : recipere codd.

a With the reading despui, " on the ground " ; with
Mayhoffs reading, " in the baby's face," or " mouth."

6 Fascinus was the spirit or daemon of the phallus, an
emblem of which was hung round the necks of infants to
keep away evil influences. An image was also attached to the
car of a triumphant general, in which, too, was a slave, who
bade him look back, saying : respice post te, hominem te
memento. See Juvenal X. 41.

30

BOOK XXVIII. vii. 39-ix. 42

her charge.a And yet the baby is further under the
divine protection of Fascinus,b guardian not only of
babies but of generals, a deity whose worship, part
of the Roman religion, is entrusted to the Vestals ;
hanging under the chariots of generals at their
triumphs he defends them as a physician from
jealousy, and the similar physic of the tongue bids
them look back, so that at the back Fortune, de-
stroyer of fame, may be won over.c

VIII. The bite of a human being is considered Human bites.
to be a most serious one. It is treated with ear

wax, and (let no one be surprised) this, if applied
locally at once, is also good for the stings of scorpions
and for the bites of serpents, being more efficacious
if taken from the ears of the sufferer. Hangnails too
are said to be cured in this way ; the bite of serpents
by a human tooth ground to powder.

IX. The hair cut off first from a child's head, i§u*eofhair

etc.

tied round the affected part,'J is said to relieve attacks
of gout, as does the application of the hair of all,
generally speaking, who have not arrived at puberty.
The hair of adult men also, applied with vinegar, is
good for dog bites, with oil or wine for wounds on
the head. If we believe it, the hair of a man torn
from the cross is good for quartan ague ; burnt hair
is certainly good for carcinoma. The first tooth
of a child to fall out, provided that it does not touch
the ground, if set in a bracelet and worn constantly
on a woman's arm, keeps pain away from her private
parts. If the big toe is tied to the one next to it,

e Or," kept away from behind."

d Mayhoff puts a semicolon at circumligatus and a comma only
at inpositus.

31

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

sedat, in manu dextera duo medii lino leviter colligati
destillationes atque lippitudines arcent. quin et
eiectus lapillus calculoso alligatus supra pubem
levare ceteros dicitur ac iocineris etiam dolores et
celeritatem partus facere. adicit Granius efficaciorem
ad hoc esse ferro exemptum. partus accelerat hic
mas ex quo quaeque conceperit, si cinctu suo soluto
feminam cinxerit, dein solverit adiecta precatione
se vinxisse, eundem et soluturum, atque abierit.

43 X. Sanguine ipsius hominis ex quacumque parte
emisso efficacissime anginam inlini tradunt Orpheus
et Archelaus, item ora comitiali morbo conlapsorum,
exurgere enim protinus. quidam, si pollices pedum
pungantur eaeque guttae si ferantur x in faciem, aut
si virgo dextro pollice attingat, hac coniectura

44 censentes virgines carnes edendas. Aeschines
Atheniensis excrementorum cinere anginis mede-
batur et tonsillis uvisque et carcinomatis. hoc
medicamentum vocabat botryon. multa genera
morborum primo coitu solvuntur primoque femin-
arum mense aut, si id non contingit, longinqua fiunt
maximeque comitiales. quin et a serpente, a
scorpione percussos coitu levari produnt, verum
feminas venere ea laedi. oculorum vitia fieri

1 si ferantur Urlichs, Detlefsen : referantur Mayhoff : se
ferantur V : seferantur R.

° An unknown. b See List of Diseases.

32

BOOK XXVIII. ix. 42-x. 44

swellings in the groin are relieved ; if the two middle
fingers of the right hand are lightly tied together with
a linen thread,catarrhs and ophthalmia are kept away.
Again, a stone voided by a sufferer from bladder
trouble, if attached above the pubes, is said to relieve
other similar patients as well as pains in the liver, and
also to hasten child-birth. Granius a adds that
the stone is more effegtive for the last purpose if it
has been cut out by an iron knife. If the man by
whom a woman has conceived unties his girdle and
puts it round her waist, and then unties it with the
ritual formula : " I bound, and I too will unloose,"
then taking his departure, child-birth is made more
rapid.

X. The blood let from any part of the patient
himself makes, we are told by Orpheus and Archelaus,
a very efficacious application for quinsy ; b efficacious
too if applied to the mouth of those who have fainted
in an epileptic fit, for they rise up immediately.
Some say the big toes should be pricked and the drops
of blood applied to the face, or that a virgin should
touch it c with her right thumb ; hence their con-
clusion that epileptics should eat virgin meat.
Aeschines the Athenian d used the ash of excrements
for quinsy, sore tonsils, sore uvula, and carcinomata.
This medicament he called botryon. Many kinds of
illness are cleared up by the first sexual intercourse,
or by the first menstruation ; if they do not, they
become chronic, especially epilepsy. Moreover, it
is held that snake bites and scorpion stings are re-
lieved by intercourse, but that the act does harm to
the woman. They say that neither ophthalmia nor
other eye troubles afflict those who, when they wash

e Or, " the patient." d An unknown.

33

VOL. VIII. C

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

negant nec lippire eos qui, cum pedes lavant, aqua
inde ter oculos tangant.

45 XI. Inmatura morte raptorum manu strumas,
parotidas, guttura tactu sanari adfirmant, quidam
vero cuiuscumque defuncti, dumtaxat sui sexus,
laeva manu aversa. et ligno fulgure icto reiectis
post terga manibus demorderj, aliquid et ad dentem
qui doleat admoveri remedio esse produnt. sunt
qui praecipiant dentem suffiri dente hominis sui
sexus, et eum qui caninus vocetur insepulto exemp-

46 tum adalligari. terram e calvaria psilotrum esse
palpebrarum tradunt, herba vero, si qua ibi genita
sit, commanducata dentes cadere, ulcera non serpere
osse hominis circumscripta. alii e tribus puteis pari
mensura aquas miscent et prolibant novo fictili,
relicum dant in tertianis accessu febrium bibendum.
iidem in quartanis fragmentum clavi a cruce involu-
tum lana collo subnectunt, aut spartum e cruce,
liberatoque condunt caverna quam sol non attingat.

47 XII. Magorum haec commenta sunt, ut x cotem
qua ferramenta saepe exacuta sint subiectam ignari
cervicalibus de 2 veneficio deficientis evocare indicium,
ut ipse dicat quid sibi datum sit et ubi et quo tempore,
auctorem tamen non nominare. fulmine utique

1 sunt, ut] sunt qui V : Mayhoff sicuti coni.

2 de] e coni. Mayhoff, vel delendum putat.

° Or, " after a cure has been effected."
b Possibly " sorcery," " magic potion." Cf. Book XXV.
§10.

34

BOOK XXVIII. x. 44-xii. 47

their feet, touch the eyes three times with the water
they have used.

XI. We are assured that the hand of a person Magicai
carried off by premature death cures by a touch cures-
scrofulous sores, diseased parotid glands, and throat
affections; some however say that the back of any
dead person's left hand will do this if the patient

is of the same sex. A piece bitten off from wood
struck by lightning by a person with hands thrown
behind his back, if it is applied to an aching tooth,
is a remedy we are told for the pain. Some pre-
scribe fumigation of the tooth with a human tooth
from one of the same sex, and to use as an amulet
a dog-tooth taken from an unburied corpse. Earth
taken out of a skull acts, it is said, as a depilatory
for the eye-lashes, while any plant that has grown
in the skull makes, when chewed, the teeth fall out,
and ulcers marked round with a human bone do not
spread. Some mix in equal quantities water from
three wells, pour a libation from new earthenware,
and give the rest to be drunk, at the rise of tempera-
ture, by sufferers from tertian ague. These also
wrap up in wool and tie round the neck of quartan
patients a piece of a nail taken from a cross, or else
a cord taken from a crucifixion, and after the patient's
neck has been freed a they hide it in a hole where
the sunlight cannot reach.

XII. Here are some lies of the Magi, who say that Marveiious
a whetstone on which iron tools have been often ^Magif
sharpened, if placed without his knowledge under

the pillows of a man sinking from the effects of
poisoning,6 actually makes him give evidence about
what has been given him, where and when, but not
the name of the criminal. It is certainly a fact

35

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

percussum circumactum in vulnus hominem loqui

48 protinus constat. inguinibus medentur aliqui liceum
telae detractum alligantes novenis septenisve nodis,
ad singulos nominantes viduam aliquam atque ita
inguini adalligantes. liceo et clavum aliudve quod
quis calcaverit alligatum ipsos iubent gerere, ne sit
dolori vulnus. verrucas abolent a vicensima luna in
limitibus supini ipsam intuentes ultra caput manibus
porrectis et quicquid adprehendere eo fricantes.

49 clavum corporis, cum cadit stella si quis destringat
vel1 cito sanari aiunt, cardinibus ostiorum aceto
adfusis lutum fronti inlitum capitis dolorem sedare,
item laqueum suspendiosi circumdatum temporibus.
si quid e pisce haeserit faucibus, cadere demissis in
aquam frigidam pedibus, si vero ex aliis ossibus,
inpositis capiti ex eodem vase ossiculis, si panis
haereat, ex eodem in utramque aurem addito pane.

50 XIII. Quin et sordes hominis in magnis fecere
remediis quaestuosorum gymnasia 2 Graecorum,
quippe ea strigmenta molliunt, calfaciunt, discutiunt,
conplent, sudore et oleo medicinam facientibus.
volvis inflammatis contractisque admoventur. sic
et menses cient, sedis inflammationes et condylomata
leniunt, item nervorum dolores, luxata, articulorum

51 nodos. emcaciora ad eadem strigmenta a balneis, et

1 vel codd. : vellere Detlefsen § 61 coll.

2 quaestuosorum gymnasia vulg., Detlefsen : quaestus
gymnici Mayhoff : quaestivo gimnit VR : quaestorum
gymnasia d.

• Or, " recovers his power of speech."

6 Celsus (V. 11) says that sordes ex gymnasio is a discutient.

36

BOOK XXVIII. xii. 47-xm. 51

that the victim of lightning, if turned upon the
wounded side, at once begins to speak.° Some treat
affections of the groin by tying with nine or seven
knots a thread taken from a web, at each knot
naming some widow, and so attach it to the groin as
an amulet. To prevent a wound's being painful they
prescribe wearing as an amulet, tied on the person
with a thread, the nail or other object that he has
trodden on. Warts are removed by those who,
after the twentieth day of the month, lie face
upwards on a path, gaze at the moon with hands
stretched over their head, and rub the wart with
whatever they have grasped. If a corn or callus
is cut when a star is falling, they say that it is very
quickly cured, and that applying to the forehead the
mud obtained by pouring vinegar over a front door's
hinges relieves headaches, as does also the rope
used by a suicide if tied round the temples. Should
a fish bone stick in the throat, they say that it comes
out if the feet are plunged into cold water ; if how-
ever it is another kind of bone, bits of bone from the
same pot should be applied to the head ; if it is a
piece of bread that sticks, pieces from the same loaf
must be placed in either ear.

XIII. Moreover, important remedies have been Human ojf-
made by the profit-seeking Greeks even with human scounn9s-
offscouring from the gymnasia ; for the scrapings
from the bodies soften, warm, disperse,6 and make
flesh, sweat and oil forming an ointment. This
is used as a pessary for inflammation and contraction
of the uterus. So used it is also an emmenagogue ;
it soothes inflammations of the anus and condylomata,
likewise pains of the sinews, dislocations, and knotty
joints. More efficacious for the same purposes

37

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

ideo miscentur suppuratoriis medicamentis. nam
illa quae sunt ex ceromate permixta caeno articulos
tantum molliunt, calfaciunt, discutiunt efficacius,

52 sed ad cetera minus valent. excedit fidem inpudens
cura qua sordes virilitatis contra scorpionum ictus
singularis remedii celeberrimi auctores clamant,
rursus in feminis quas x infantium alvo editas in utero
ipso contra sterilitatem subdi censent, meconium
vocant. immo etiam ipsos gymnasiorum rasere
parietes, et illae quoque sordes excalfactoriam vim
habere dicuntur, panos discutiunt, ulceribus senum
puerorumque et desquamatis ambustisve inlinuntur.

53 XIV. Eo minus omitti convenit ab animo hominis
pendentes medicinas. abstinere cibo omni aut potu,
alias vino tantum aut carne, alias balneis, cum quid
eorum postulet valetudo, in praesentissimis remediis
habetur. his adnumeratur exercitatio, intentio vocis,
ungui, fricari cum ratione. vehemens enim fricatio
spissat, lenis mollit, multa adimit corpus, auget
modica. in primis vero prodest ambulatio, gestatio
et ea pluribus modis, equitatio stomacho et coxis

54 utilissima, phthisi navigatio, longis morbis locorum
mutatio, item somno sibi mederi aut lectulo aut
rara vomitione. supini cubitus oculis conducunt,
at proni tussibus, in latera adversum destillationes.

1 quas codd. : aquas coni. Warmington.

3»

BOOK XXVIII. xiii. 51-xiv. 54

are scrapings from the bath, and so these are in-
gredients of ointments for suppurations. But those
that have wax salve in them, and are mixed with mud,
are more efficacious only for softening joints, for
warming and for dispersing, but for all other purposes
thev are less powerful. Shameless beyond belief is
the treatment prescribed by verv famous authorities,
who proclaim that male semen is an excellent antidote
to scorpion stings, holding on the other hand that a
pessarv for women made from the faeces of babies
voided in the uterus itself is a cure for barrenness ;
they call it meconium. Moreover, they have scraped
the verv walls of the gymnasia, and these offscourings
are said to have great warming properties ; they dis-
perse superficial abscesses, and are applied as oint-
ment to the sores of old people and children, as well
as to excoriations and burns.

XIV. It would be all the less seemly to pass over Remedies
the remedies that are in the control of a man's will. ^hfwfu.
To fast from all food and drink, sometimes only from
wine or meat, sometimes from baths, when health
demands such abstinence, is held to be one of the
most sovereign remedies. Among the others are
phvsical exercise, voice exercises, anointing, and
massage if carried out with skilled care ; for violent
massage hardens, gentle softens, too much reduces
rlesh and a moderate amount makes it. Especially
beneficial however are walking, carriage rides of various
kinds, horse riding, which is very good for the stomach
and hips, a sea voyage for consumption, change of
locality for chronic diseases, and self-treatment by
sleep, lying down, and occasional emetics. Lying
on the back is good for the eyes, on the face for
coughs, and on either side for catarrhs. Aristotle

39

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

Aristoteles et Fabianus plurimum somniari circa ver et
autumnum tradunt, magisque supino cubitu, at
prono nihil, Theophrastus celerius concoqui dextri

55 lateris incubitu, dimcilius a supinis. sol quoque
remediorum maximum ab ipso sibi praestari potest,
sicuti linteorum strigiliumque vehementia. per-
fundere caput calida ante balnearum vaporationem
et postea frigida, saluberrimum intellegitur, item
praesumere et cibis et interponere frigidam eiusdem-
que potu l somnos antecedere et, si libeat, inter-
rumpere. notandum nullum animal aliud calidos

56 potus sequi ideoque non esse naturales. mero ante
somnos colluere ora propter halitus, frigida matutinis
inpari numero ad cavendos dentium dolores, item
posca oculos contra lippitudines, certa experimenta
sunt, sicut totius corporis valetudinem iuvari 2
varietate victus inobservata. Hippocrates tradit non
prandentium celerius senescere exta. verum id
remediis cecinit, non epulis, quippe multo utilissima
est temperantia in cibis. L. Lucullus hanc de se
praefecturam servo dederat, ultimoque probro
manus in cibis triumphali seni deiciebatur vel in
Capitolio epulanti, pudenda re servo suo facilius
parere quam sibi.

1 potu codd. : potus Detlefsen.

2 valetudinem iuvari Dal., Sillig, Detlefsen : valetudiui in
Mayhoff; valetudini aut. valetudine in codd.

a Aphorisms VI. 13.
40

BOOK XXVIII. xiv. 54-56

and Fabianus tell us that dreaming is most common
around spring and autumn, and especially when we
lie on the back ; when we lie on the face there are
no dreams at all. Theophrastus says that quicker
digestion results from lying on the right side, more
dimcult digestion from lying on the back. Sunshine
too, best of remedies, we can administer to ourselves,
as we can the vigorous use of towels and scrapers.
To bathe the head with hot water before the hot steam
of the bath, and with cold water after it, is understood
to be very healthful ; so it is to drink cold water before
a meal and at intervals during it, and to take a draught
of the same before going to sleep, breaking your
sleep, if you like, in order to drink. It should be
observed that no animal except man likes hot drinks,
which is evidence that they are unnatural. Experi-
ence plainly shows that it is good before sleeping to
rinse the mouth with neat wine as a safeguard
against offensive breath, and with cold water an
uneven number of times in the morning to keep off
toothache ; that to bathe the eyes in vinegar and
water prevents ophthalmia, and that general health is
promoted by an unstudied variety of regimen.
Hippocrates a teaches that the habit of not taking
lunch makes the internal organs age more rapidly ; in
this aphorism, however, he is thinking of remedies,
not encouraging gluttony, for by far the greatest aid
to health is moderation in food. L. Lucullus
gave charge over himself to a slave to enforce
control, and he, an old man who had celebrated a
triumph, suffered the very deep disgrace of having
his hand kept away from the viands even when
feasting in the Capitol, with the added shame of
obeying his own slave more readily than himself.

4i

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

57 XV. Sternumenta pinna gravedinem emendant,
et si quis mulae nares, ut tradunt, osculo attingat
sternutamenta et singultum. ad hoc Varro suadet
palmam alterna * manu scalpere, plerique anulum e
sinistra in longissimum dextrae digitum transferre,
in aquam ferventem manus mergere. Theophrastus
senes laboriosius sternuere dicit.

58 XVI. Venerem damnavit Democritus ut in qua
homo alius exiliret ex homine, et, Hercules, raritas
eius utilior. athletae tamen torpentes restituuntur
venere, vox revocatur, cum e candida declinat in
fuscam. medetur et lumborum dolori, oculorum
hebetationi, mente captis ac melancholicis.

59 XVII. Adsidere gravidis, vel cum remedium alicui
adhibeatur, digitis pectinatim inter se inplexis
veneficium est, idque conpertum tradunt Alcmena
Herculem pariente, peius, si circa unum ambove
genua, item poplites alternis genibus inponi. ideo
haec in consiliis ducum potestatiumve fieri vetuere
maiores velut omnem actum inpedientia, vetuere

60 vero et sacris votisve simili modo interesse, capita
autem aperiri aspectu magistratuum non venerationis
causa iussere, sed, ut Varro auctor est, valetudinis,

1 alterna R, Gelenius, Mayhoff: in altera multi ccdd.,
Detlefsen : alterutra coni. Warmington.

0 Or, " discomfort."
42

BOOK XXVIII. xv. 57-xvii. 60

XV. Sneezing caused by a feather relieves a
cold in the head, and sneezing and hiccough are
relieved by touching with the lips, it is said, the
nostrils of a mule. For sneezing Varro advises us to
scratch the palm of each hand with the other ; most
people advise us to transfer the ring from the left
hand to the longest finger of the right, and to dip
the hands into very hot water. Theophrastus says
that old people sneeze with greater difficulty a than
others.

XVI. Sexual intercourse was disapproved of by sexuai
Democritus, as being merely the act whereby one tntercour*'
human being springs from another. Heaven knows,

the less indulgence in this respect the better.
Athletes, however, when sluggish regain by it their
activity, and the voice, when it has lost its clearness
and become husky, is restored. It cures pain in the
loins, dulness of vision, unsoundness of mind and
melancholia.

XVII. To sit in the presence of pregnant women, Various
or when medicine is being given to patients, with the tndivdey
fingers interlaced comb-wise, is to be guilty of sorcery, acts-

a discovery made, it is said, when Alcmena was
giving birth to Hercules. The sorcery is worse if the
hands are clasped round one knee or both, and also
to cross the knees first in one way and then in the
other. For this reason our ancestors forbade such
postures at councils of war or of officials, on the ground
that they were an obstacle to the transaction of all
business. They also forbade them, indeed, to those
attending sacred rites and prayers ; but to uncover
the head at the sight of magistrates they ordered,
not as a mark of respect, but (our authority is Varro)
for the sake of health, for the habit of baring the head

43

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

quoniam firmiora consuetudine ea fierent. oum
quid oculo inciderit, alterum conprimi prodest, cum
aqua dextrae auriculae, sinistro pede exultari capite
in dextrum umerum devexo, invicem e diversa aure.
si tussim concitet saliva, in fronte ab alio adflari, si
iaceat uva, verticem x morsu alterius suspendi, in
cervicium dolore poplites fricare 2 aut cervicem in

61 poplitum, pedes in humo deponi, si nervi in his
cruribusve tendantur in lectulo, aut si in laeva parte
id accidat, sinistrae plantae pollicem dextra manu
adprehendi, item e diverso, extremitates corporis
velleribus perstringi contra horrores sanguinemve
narium inmodicum,3 . . . lino vel papyro principia
genitalium, femur medium ad cohibenda urinae
profluvia, in stomachi solutione pedes pressare 4 aut

62 manus in ferventem aquam demitti. iam et sermoni
parci multis de causis salutare est. triennio Maece-
natem Melissum5 accepimus silentium sibi impera-
visse a convolsione reddito sanguine. nam eversos
scandentesque ac iacentes si quid ingruat contraque
ictus spiritum cohibere singularis praesidii est, quod

63 inventum esse animalis docuimus. clavum ferreum
defigere in quo loco primum caput fixerit corruens

1 verticem VdT, Mayhoff : a vertice R ( ?) E vulg.,
Detlefsen.

2 fricari velit Sillig.

3 Post inmodicum lacunam indicat Mayhoff.

4 pressari velit Sillig.

6 Melissi iussi coni. Maykoff.

a With the reading a vertice, " to hold him up suspended
by the top of his head with another*s teeth," a difficult feat,
one would think.

b Mayhoff'8 lacuna, fillcd up by item circumligari, would
mean : " to tie round with thread or papyrus."

44

BOOK XXVIII. xvii. 60-63

gives it greater strength. When something has
fallen into the eye, it does good to press down the
other ; when water gets into the right ear, to jump
with the left leg. leaning the head towards the right
shoulder; if into the left ear, to jump in the con-
trary way ; if saliva provokes a cough, for another
person to blow on the forehead ; if the uvula is
relaxed, for another to hold up the top of the head a
with his teeth ; if there is pain in the neck, to rub
the back of the knees, and to rub the neck for pain
in the back of the knees ; to plant the feet on the
ground for cramp in feet or legs when in bed ; or if the
cramp is on the left side to seize with the right hand
the big toe of the left foot and vice versa ; to rub the
extremities with pieces of fleece to stcp shivers or vio-
lent nose-bleeding; . . .b with linen or papyrus the
tip of the genitals and the middle of the thigh to
check incontinence of urine ; for weakness of the
stomach to press together the feet or dip the hands
into very hot water. Moreover, to refrain from
talking is healthful for many reasons. Maecenas
Melissus,c we are told, imposed a three-year silence
on himself because of spitting of blood after con-
vulsions. But if any danger threatens those thrown
down, climbing, or prostrate, and as a guard against
blows, to hold the breath is an excellent protection,
a discovery which, I have stated,d we owe to an
animal. To drive an iron nail into the place first e

c The conjecture of Mayhoff would mean : " Maecenas,
on the recommendation of Melissus," i.e., of his medical
attendant.

d See Book VIII. § 138.

* Or, possibly : " into the place struck by the front of his
head."

45

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

morbo comitiali absolutorium eius mali dicitur.
contra renum aut lumborum, vesicae cruciatus in
balnearum soliis pronos urinam reddere mitigatorium
habetur. vulnera nodo Herculis praeligare mirum

64 quantum ocior medicina est, atque etiam cottidiani
cinctus tali nodo vim quandam habere utilem dicuntur,
quippe cum Herculaneum prodiderit numerum
quoque quaternarium Demetrius condito volumine, et
quare quaterni cyathi sextariive non essent potandi.
contra lippitudines retro aures fricare prodest et
lacrimosis oculis frontem. augurium ex homine ipso
est non timendi mortem in aegritudine quamdiu
oculorum pupillae imaginem reddant.

65 XVIII. Magna et urinae non ratio solum sed
etiam religio apud auctores invenitur digestae in
genera, spadonum quoque ad fecunditatis veneficia.
verum ex his quae referre fas sit inpubium puerorum
contra salivas aspidum quas ptyadas vocant, quoniam
venena in oculos hominum expuant, contra oculorum
albugines, obscuritates, cicatrices, argema, palpebras
et cum ervi farina contra adustiones, contra aurium
pura vermiculosque, si decoquatur ad dimidias partes
cum porro capitato novo fictili. vaporatio quoque ea

° A difficult knot with no ends to be seen.

6 Possibly a physician who lived about 200 B.c. Nothing
else is known of him.

c It is difficult to bring out the contrast between ratio
and religio without suggesting notions of which PHny, and
perhaps the Romans generally, were ignorant. Possibly
the former refers to a property supposed to be understood

46

BOOK XXVIII. xvii. 63-xvm. 65

struck by the head of an epileptic in his fall is said
to be deliverance from that malady. For severe
pain in the kidneys, loins or bladder, it is supposed
to be soothing if the patient voids his urine while
lying on his face in the tub of the bath. To tie up
wounds with the Hercules knot a makes the healing
wonderfully more rapid, and even to tie daily the
girdle with this knot is said to have a certain useful-
ness, for Demetrius b wrote a treatise in which he
states that the number four is one of the prerogatives
of Hercules, giving reasons why four cyathi or sextarii
at a time should not be drunk. For ophthalmia it is
good to rub behind the ears, and for watery eyes the
forehead. From the patient himself it is a reliable
omen that, as long as the pupils of his eyes reflect
an image, a fatal end to an illness is not to be feared. Medicai
XVIII. Our authorities attribute to urine also great UJesoJur
power, not only natural but supernatural ; c they
divide it into kinds, using even that of eunuchs to
counteract the sorcery that prevents fertility. But
of the properties it would be proper to speak of I
may mention the following : — the urine of children
not yet arrived at puberty is used to counteract the
spittle of the ptyas, an asp so called because it spits
venom into men's eyes ; for albugo,J dimness, scars,
argema,d and affections of the eyelids ; with flour
of vetch for burns ; and for pus or worms in the ear
if boiled down to one half with a headed leek in
new earthenware. Its steam too is an emmena-

(i.e. normal), and the latter to one mysterious and not under-
stood (abnormal). Of course there are other meanings of
religio, which may be objective or subjective.

d For albugo and argema see List of Diseases. The ptyas
(from tttvco) = the spitting asp.

47

PLINV: XATURAL HISTORY

66 menses feminarum ciet. Salpe fovet illa x oculos
firmitatis causa, inlinit sole usta cum ovi albo,
emcacius slruthocameli, binis horis. hac et atra-
menti liturae abluuntur. virilis podagris medetur
argumento fullonum, quos ideo temptari eo morbo
negant. veteri miscetur cinis ostreorum adversus
eruptiones in corpore infantium et omnia ulcera

67 manantia. ea exesis, ambustis, sedis vitiis, rhaga-
diis et scorpionum ictibus inlinitur. obstetricum
nobilitas non alio suco efficacius curari pronuntiavit
corporum pruritus, nitro addito ulcera capitum,
porrigines, nomas, praecipue genitalium. sua cuique
autem, quod fas sit dixisse, maxime prodest, confestim
perfuso canis morsu, echinorumque spinis inhaeren-
tihus 2 in spongea lanisve inposita aut adversus rabidi
canis morsus cinere ex ea subacto, contraque serpen-
tium ictus. nam contra scolopendras mirum pro-
ditur vertice tacto urinae suae gutta liberari protinus
laesos.

68 XIX. Auguria valetudinis ex ea traduntur, si
mane candida, dein rufa sit, illo modo concoquere,
hoc concoxisse significatur. mala signa rubrae,
pessima nigrae, mala bullantis. crassa,3 in qua quod
subsidit si album est, significat circa articulos aut
viscera dolorem inminere, eadem viridis morbum

1 Post illa add. cum E : cum luteo C. Brahnan (Mnemosyne
1930).

2 inhaerentibus] Post hoc verbum et codd. : del. vult Mayhoff:
ego delevi.

3 crassa Mayhoff : crassae aut et crassae codd.

" .Mayhoff thinks that there is a lacuna, e.g. " and honey."
1 Fullers used it in their work.

' With the reading crassae '* thick " will be an epithet
applied to the bubbling urine.

48

BOOK XXVIII. xviii. 6^-xix. 68

gogue. Salpe would foment the eyes with urine ° to
strengthen them, and would apply it for two hours
at a time to sun-burn, adding the white of an egg,
by preference that of an ostrich. Urine also takes
out ink blots. Men's urine relieves gout, as is
shown by the testimony of fullers,5 who for that
reason never, they say, suffer from this malady. Old
urine is added to the ash of burnt oyster-shells to
treat rashes on the bodies of babies, and for all
running ulcers. Pitted sores, burns, affections of the
anus, chaps, and scorpion stings, are treated by
applications of urine. The most celebrated mid-
wives have declared that no other lotion is better
treatment for irritation of the skin, and with soda
added for sores on the head, dandruff, and spreading
ulcers, especially on the genitals. Each person's
own urine, if it be proper for me to say so, does him
the most good, if a dog-bite is immediately bathed in
it, if it is applied on a sponge or wool to the quills
of an urchin that are sticking in the flesh, or if ash
kneaded with it is used to treat the bite of a mad dog,
or a serpent's bite. Moreover, for scolopendra
bite a wonderful remedy is said to be for the wounded
person to touch the top of his head with a drop of
his own urine, when his wound is at once healed.

XIX. Urine gives us symptoms of general health :
if in the morning it is clear, becoming tawny later,
the former means that coction is still going on, the
latter that it is complete. A bad symptom is red
urine, a bad one also when it bubbles, and the
worst of all when it is very dark. Thick c urine, in
which what sinks to the bottom is white, means that
there is pain coming on about the joints or in the
region of the bowels ; if it is green, that the bowels

49

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

viscerum, pallida bilis, rubens sanguinis. mala et
in qua veluti furfures atque nubeculae apparent.

69 diluta quoque alba vitiosa est, mortifera vero crassa
gravi odore et in pueris tenuis ac diluta. Magi
vetant eius causa contra solem lunamque nudari
aut umbram cuiusquam ab ipso respergi. Hesiodus
iuxta obstantia reddi suadet, ne deum aliquem nudatio
offendat. Osthanes contra mala medicamenta omnia
auxiliari promisit matutinis suam cuique instillatam
in pedem.

70 XX. Quae ex mulierum corporibus traduntur ad
portentorum miracula accedunt, ut sileamus divisos
membratim in scelera abortus, mensum piacula
quaeque alia non obstetrices modo verum etiam
ipsae meretrices prodidere, capilli si crementur,
odore serpentes fugari, eodem nidore vulvae morbo

71 strangulatas respirare, cinere eo quidem, si in testa
sint cremati vel cum spuma argenti, scabritias
oculorum ac prurigines emendari, item verrucas et
infantium ulcera, cum melle capitis quoque vulnera
et omnium ulcerum sinus, addito melle ac ture
panos, podagras, cum adipe suillo sacrum ignem,
sanguinem sisti, inlito item x formicationes corporum.

72 XXI. De lactis usu convenit dulcissimum esse
mollissimumque et in longa febre coeliacisque
utilissimum, maxime eius quae iam infantem re-

1 item Mayhoff : et in codd. : et vulg.

a Works and Days 11. 727 foll.

h A Magus who accompanied Xerxes on his expedition
against Greece. See Book XXX. § 8, and the long article in
Pauly, s.v. Ostanes.

c See XXVIII § 85 tactis omnino menstruo postibus inritas
fieri Magorum artes. It is however possible that the other
meaning of piaculum (" crime ") is intended here. Cf.
many remarks in Chapter XXIII.

5°

BOOK XXVIII. xix. 68-xxi. 72

are diseased. Pale urine means diseased bile, red
urine diseased blood. Bad urine also is that in which
is to be seen as it were bran, and cloudiness. Watery,
pale, urine also is unhealthy, but thick, foul-smell-
ing urine indicates death, as does thin, watery urine
from children. The Magi say that when making
urine one must not expose one's person to the face of
the sun or moon, or let drops fall on anyone's shadow.
Hesiod a advises us to urinate facing an object that
screens, lest our nakedness should offend some deity.
Osthanes b assured people that protection against
all sorcerers' potions is secured by letting one's own
morning urine drip upon the foot.

XX. Some reported products of women's bodies Remedies
should be added to the class of marvels, to say nothing
of tearing to pieces for sinful practices the limbs of
still-born babies, the undoing of spells by the men-
strual fluid,c and the other accounts given not only by
midwives but actually by harlots. For example: that
the smell of burnt woman's hair keeps away serpents,
and the fumes of it make women breathe naturally
who are choking with hysteria ; this same ash indeed,
from hair burnt in a jar, or used with Htharge,
cures roughness and itch of the eyes, as well as
warts and sores on babies ; that with honey it cures
also wounds on the head and the cavities made by
any kind of ulcer, with honey and frankincense,
superficial abscesses and gout ; that with lard it cures
erysipelas and checks haemorrhage, and that when
applied it cures also irritating rashes on the body.

XXI. As to the use of woman's milk, it is agreed
that it is the sweetest and most delicate of all, very
useful in long fevers and coeliac disease, especially
the milk of a woman who has already weaned her

5i

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

moverit. et in malacia stomachi, in febribus rosioni-
busque efficacissimum experiuntur, item mammarum
collectionibus cum ture, oculo ab ictu cruore suffuso
et in dolore aut epiphora, si inmulgeatur, plurimum
prodest, magisque cum melle et narcissi suco aut
turis polline, superque in omni usu efficacius eius
quae marem enixa sit multoque efficacissimum eius
quae geminos pepererit mares et si vino ipsa cibisque

73 acrioribus abstineat. mixto praeterea ovorum can-
dido liquore madidaque lana frontibus inpositum x
fluctiones oculorum suspendit. nam 2 si rana saliva
sua oculum asperserit, praecipuum est remedium,
et contra morsum eiusdem bibitur instillaturque.
eum qui simul matris filiaeque lacte inunctus sit
liberari omni oculorum metu in totam vitam adfirmant.
aurium quoque vitiis medetur admixto modice oleo
aut, si ab ictu doleant,3 anserino adipe tepefactum.
si sit odor gravior, ut plerumque fit longis vitiis,

74 diluto melle lana includitur. et contra regium
morbum in oculis relictum instillatur cum elaterio.
peculiariter valet potum contra venena quae data
sint e marino lepore, bupraesti,4 aut 5 ut Aristoteles
tradit, dorycnio,6 et contra insaniam quae facta sit
hyoscyami potu. podagris quoque iubent inlini
cum cicuta, alii cum oesypo et adipe anserino,

1 inpositum codd. : inposita coni. Mayhoff.

2 nam codd. : etiam coni. Mayhoff.

3 Ante anserino an cum addendum ?

4 bupraesti] varia codd. : bupraestim Deilefsen.

5 aut] mutatim multi codd. : del. Detlefsen : aut etiam
Mayhoff.

6 dorycnio Mayhoff : dorycnium Detlefsen : varia codd.

a See Index of Plants in vol. VII.

b Perhaps some species of cantharides.

52

BOOK XXVIII. xxi. 72-74

baby. For nausea of the stomach, in fevers, and for
gnawing pains, it is found most efficacious, also with
frankincense for gatherings on the breasts. It is
very beneficial to an eye that is bloodshot from a
blow, in pain, or suffering from a flux, if it is milked
straight into it, more beneficial still if honey is added
and juice of narcissus a or powdered incense. For
all purposes, moreover, a woman's milk is more
efficacious if she has given birth to a boy, and much
the most efficacious is hers, who has borne twin
boys and herself abstains from wine and the more
acrid foods. Mixed moreover with liquid white of
eggs, and applied to the forehead on wool soaked in it,
it checks fluxes of the eyes. But if a toad has
squirted its fluid into the eye it is a splendid remedy ;
for the bite also of the toad it is drunk and poured
in drops into the wound. It is asserted that one who
has been rubbed with the milk of mother and daughter
together never needs to fear eye trouble for the rest
of his life. Affections of the ears also are successfully
treated by the milk mixed with a little oil, or, if
there is any pain from a blow, warmed with goose
grease. If there is an offensive smeil from the ears,
as usually happens in illnesses of long standing, wool
is put into them soaked in milk in which honey has
been dissolved. When jaundice has left traces
remaining in the eyes, the milk together with
elaterium is dropped into them. A draught of
woman's milk is especially efficacious against the
poison of the sea-hare, of the buprestis,6 or, as
Aristotle tells us, of dorycnium, and for the madness
caused by drinking henbane. Combined with hem-
lock it is also prescribed as a liniment for gout ;
others make it up with the suint of wool and goose

53

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

qualiter et vulvarum doloribus inponitur. alvum
etiam sistit potum, ut Rabirius scribit, et menses

75 ciet. eius vero quae feminam enixa sit ad vitia
tantum in facie sananda praevalet. pulmonum
quoque incommoda lacte mulieris sanantur, cui si
admisceatur inpubis pueri urina et mel Atticum,
omnia coclearium singulorum mensura, "j" marmora f x
quoque aurium eici invenio. eius quae marem pe-
perit lacte gustato canes rabiosos negant fieri.

76 XXII. Mulieris quoque salivam ieiunam potentem
diiudicant cruentatis oculis et contra epiphoras, si
ferventes anguli oculorum subinde madefiant, effi-
cacius, si cibo vinoque se pridie ea abstinuerit.
invenio et fascia mulieris alligato capite dolores
minui.

77 XXIII. Post haec nullus est modus. iam primum
abigi grandines turbinesque contra fulgura ipsa mense
nudato. sic averti violentiam caeli, in navigando
quidem tempestates etiam sine menstruis. ex ipsis
vero mensibus, monstrificis alias, ut suo loco indica-
vimus, dira et infanda vaticinantur, e quibus dixisse
non pudeat, si in defectus lunae solisve congruat
vis 2 illa, inremediabilem fieri, non segnius et in silente
luna, coitusque tum maribus exitiales esse atque

1 marmora codd., vulg. : pura Detlefsen coll. § 65 : vermes
Mayhoff, qui etiam harenas renium, pro marmora aurium : pro
marmora coni. murmura Warmington.

- vis vulg., Mayhoff : pestis Detlefsen : is VR : om. dx.

° None of the emendations of the corrupt marmora seems
likely. Perhaps Mayhoffs suggestion of harenas renium
(" gravel expelled from the bladder ") is the best. I translate
Mayhoff '8 vermes.

6 See Book VII. § 64.

54

BOOK XXVIII. xxi. 74-xxiii. 77

grease, in the form that is also used as an application
for pains of the uterus. A draught also acts as-
tringently upon the bowels, as Rabirius writes, and is
an emmenagogue. The milk of a woman however
who has borne a girl is excellent, but only for curing
spots on the face. Lung affections also are cured
by woman's milk, and if Attic honey is mixed with
it and the urine of a child before puberty, a single
spoonful of each, I find that worms a too are driven
from the ears. The mother of a boy gives a milk a
taste of which, they say, prevents dogs from going
mad.

XXII. The saliva too of a fasting woman is judged
to be powerful medicine for bloodshot eyes and fluxes,
if the inflamed comers are occasionally moistened
with it, the efficacy being greater if she has fasted
from food and wine the day before. I find that a
woman's breast-band tied round the head relieves
headache.

XXIII. Over and above all this there is no limit
to woman's power. First of all, they say that hail-
storms and whirlwinds are driven away if menstrual
fluid is exposed to the very flashes of lightning;
that stormy weather too is thus kept away, and
that at sea exposure, even without menstruation,
prevents storms. Wild indeed are the stories
told of the mysterious and awful power of the
menstruous discharge itself, the manifold magic of
which I have spoken of in the proper place.& Of these
tales I may without shame mention the following : if
this female power should issue when the moon or sun
is in eclipse, it will cause irremediable harm ; no less
harm if there is no moon; at such seasons sexual
intercourse brings disease and death upon the

55

PLINY: NATUllAL HISTORY

78 pestiferos, purpuram quoque eo tempore ab his
pollui, tanto vim esse maiorem, quocumque autem
alio menstruo si nudatae segetem ambiant, urucas
et vermiculos scarabaeosque ac noxia alia decidere.
Metrodorus Scepsius in Cappadocia inventum prodit
ob multitudinem cantharidum ; ire ergo per media
arva retectis super clunes vestibus. alibi servatur
ut nudis pedibus eant capillo cinctuque dissoluto.
cavendum ne id oriente sole faciant, sementim enim
arescere, item novella x tactu in perpetuum laedi,
rutam et hederam res medicatissimas ilico mori.

79 multa diximus de hac violentia, sed praeter illa certum
est apes tactis alvariis fugere, lina, cum coquantur,
nigrescere, aciem in cultris tonsorum hebetari, aes
contactu grave virus odoris accipere et aeruginem,
magis si descrescente luna id accidat, equas, si sint
gravidae, tactas abortum pati, quin et aspectu omnino,
quamvis procul visas, si purgatio illa post virginitatem

80 prima sit aut in virgine aetatis sponte. nam et 2
bitumen in Iudaea nascens sola hac vi superari
filo vestis contactae docuimus. nec igni quidem

1 novella multi codd., Mayhoff: novella prata Detlefsen :
novella ta V1.

2 nam et Detlefsen : manet (cum priore sententia) Mayhoff :
nam ut V : nam V2 r : ut d T. Coni. etiam eveniat Mayhoff.

° It should be noticed how often the word vis occurs in this
chapter. It is curiously like the " mana " or "orenda" of
modern students of folklore. See the article Kultus in Pauly.

6 It is hard to see how the readings of the MSS. have arisen,
whatever reading or emendation we adopt. MayhofTs
manet would be more attractive were not prima sit the natural
continuation of the clause introduced by aut. Is it possible

56

BOOK XXVIII. xxiii. 78-80

man; purple too is tarnished then by the womans
touch. So much greater then is the power ° of a
menstruous woman. But at any other time of
menstruation, if women go round the cornfield naked,
caterpillars, worms, beetles and other vermin fall to
the ground. Metrodorus of Scepsos states that the
discovery was made in Cappadocia owing to the
plague there of Spanish fly, so that women walk, he
says, through the middle of the fields with their
clothes pulled up above the buttocks. In other places
the custom is kept up for them to walk barefoot, with
hair dishevelled and with girdle loose. Care must
be taken that they do not do so at sunrise, for the
crop dries up, they say, the young vines are ir-
remedially harmed by the touch, and rue and ivy,
plants of the highest medicinal power, die at once.
I have said much about this virulent discharge, but
besides it is certain that when their hives are touched
by women in this state bees fly away, at their touch
linen they are boiling turns black, the edge of razors
is blunted, brass contracts copper rust and a foul
smell, especially if the moon is waning at the time,
mares in foal if touched miscarry, nay the mere sight
at however great a distance is enough, if the men-
struation is the first after maidenhood, or that of a
virgin who on account of age is menstruating naturally
for the first time. But the bitumen b also that is
found in Judaea can be mastered only by the power of Men*truai
this fluid, as I have already stated,c a thread from an fimd-
infected dress is sufficient. Not even fire, the all-con-

that the last two syllables of bitumen, spelt backwards (nem
ut), are responsible ?

e See Book VII. § 65, a portion of Pliny's work from which
many of the statements made here are repeated.

57

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

vincitur quo cuncta, cinisque etiam ille, si quis aspargat
lavandis vestibus, purpuras mutat, florem coloribus
adimit. ne ipsis quidem feminis malo suo inter se
inmunibus abortus facit inlitu, aut si omnino praegnas

81 supergradiatur. quae Lais et Elephantis inter se
contraria prodidere de abortivis,1 carbone e radice
brassicae vel myrti vel tamaricis in eo sanguine
extincto, itemque asinas tot annis non concipere
quot grana hordei contacta ederint, quaeque alia
nuncupavere monstrifica aut inter ipsas pugnantia,
cum haec fecunditatem fieri isdem modis quibus
sterilitatem illa praenuntiaret, melius est non credere.

82 Bithus Durrachinus hebetata aspectu specula recipere
nitorem tradit isdem aversa rursus contuentibus,
omnemque vim talem resolvi, si mullum piscem
secum habeant, multi vero inesse etiam remedia
tanto malo, podagris inlini, stimmas et parotidas et
panos, sacros ignes, furunculos, epiphoras tractatu
mulierum earum leniri, Lais et Salpe canum rabio-
sorum morsus et tertianas quartanasque febres
menstruo in lana arietis nigri argenteo bracchiali
incluso, Diotimus Thebanus vel omnino vestis ita
infectae portiuncula ac vel licio 2 bracchiali inserto.3

1 abortivis codd., Detlefsen : abortivo post vet. Dal., Mayhoff.

2 licio Caesarius, Mayhoff : pellicio d Tr, vulg., Detlefsen :
pelicio V R.

3 inserto T Mayhoff : inserte, inserta, insertae codd. :
insertae vulg., Detlefsen.

° An unknown.

* Authoress of poeras admired by Tiberiue. Perhaps the
lady that Galen says wrote on the subject of cosmetics.
c An unknown.
d See note on § 38.
e An unknown.

58

BOOK XXVIII. xxm. 80-82

quering, overcomes it ; even when reduced to ash,
if sprinkled on clothes in the wash, it changes purples
and robs colours of their brightness. Nor are women
themselves immune to the effect of this plague of their
sex ; a miscarriage is caused by a smear, or even if
a woman with child steps over it. Lais a and
Elephantis 6 do not agree in their statements about
abortives, the burning root of cabbage, myrtle,
or tamarisk extinguished by the menstrual blood,
about asses' not conceiving for as many years as
they have eaten grains of barley contaminated
with it, or in their other portentous or contradictory
pronouncements, one saying that fertility, the other
that barrenness is caused by the same measures.
It is better not to believe them. Bithus c of Dyr-
rhachium says that a mirror which has been tarnished
by the glance of a menstruous woman recovers its
brightness if it is turned round for her to look at the
back, and that all this sinister power is counteracted
if she carries on her person the fish called red mullet.
Many however say that even this great plague is
remedial; that it makes a liniment for gout, and
that by her touch a woman in this state relieves
scrofula, parotid tumours, superficial abscesses,
erysipelas, boils and eye-fluxes. Lais and Salpe d
hold that the bite of a mad dog, tertians, and quartans
are cured by the flux on wool from a black ram
enclosed in a silver bracelet ; Diotimus e of Thebes
says that even a bit, nay a mere thread,/ of a garment
contaminated in this way and enclosed in the bracelet,

1 With the reading pellicio : " even a bit of a contaminated
garment inserted in a leather strap round the arm." There
is something attractive about this reading, for which almost
as much could be said as for licio.

59

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

Sotira obstetrix tertianis quartanisque efficacissimum
dixit plantas aegri subterlini, multoque efficacius ab
ipsa muliere et ignorantis, sic et comitiales excitari.
Icatidas medicus quartanas finiri coitu, incipientibus

84 dumtaxat menstruis, spopondit. inter omnes vero
convenit, si aqua potusque formidetur a morsu canis,
supposita tantum calici lacinia tali, statim metum
eum discuti, videlicet praevalente sympathia illa
Graecorum, cum rabiem canum eius sanguinis
gustatu incipere dixerimus. cinere eo iumentorum
omnium x ulcera sanari certum est addita caminorum
farina et cera, maculas autem e veste eas non nisi

85 eiusdem urina ablui, cinerem per se rosaceo mixtum
feminarum praecipue capitis dolores sedare inlitum
fronti, asperrimamque vim profluvii eius esse per se
annis virginitate resoluta. id quoque convenit, quo
nihil equidem libentius crediderim, tactis omnino
menstruo postibus inritas fieri Magorum artes,

86 generis vanissimi, ut aestimare licet. ponam enim
vel modestissimum e promissis eorum, ex homine
siquidem resigmina unguium e pedibus manibusque
cera permixta, ita ut dicatur tertianae, quartanae
vel cotidianae febri remedium quaeri, ante solis
ortum alienae ianuae adfigi iubent ad remedia in
his morbis, quanta vanitate, si falsum est, quanta
vero noxia, si transferunt morbos ! innocentiores ex

1 omnium codd. : omnia Mayhoff, fortasse recte.

a An unknown.

6 For sympathia see XXIV. § 1.

e For transference see XXX. § 64 and E. Stemplinger
Antique und moderne Volkmedizin, p. 66.
6o

BOOK XXVIII. xxm. S2-S6

is sufficient. The midwife Sotira has said that it is a
very efficacious remedy for tertians and quartans to
smear with the flux the soles of the patient's feet,
much more so if the operation is performed by the
woman herself without the patient's knowledge,
adding that this remedy also revives an epileptic
who has fainted. Icatidas ° the physician assures
us that quartans are ended by sexual intercourse,
provided that the woman is beginning to menstruate.
All are agreed that, if water or drink is dreaded after
a dog-bite, if only a contaminated cloth be placed
beneath the cup, that fear disappears at once, since
of course that sympathy, as Greeks call it, has an all-
powerful effect, for I have said that dogs begin to go
mad on tasting that blood. It is a fact that, added
to soot and wax, the ash of the flux when burnt heals
the sores of all draught-animals, but menstrual
stains on a dress can be taken out only by the urine
of the same woman, that the ash, mixed with nothing
but rose oil, if applied to the forehead, relieves head-
ache, especially that of women, and that the power
of the flux is most virulent when virginity has been
lost solely through lapse of time. This also is agreed,
and there is nothing I would more willingly believe,
that if door-posts are merely touched by the men-
strual discharge, the tricks are rendered vain of the
Magi, a lying crowd, as is easily ascertained. I will
give the most moderate of their promises : take the
parings of a patient's finger nails and toe nails, mix
with wax, say that a cure is sought for tertian,
quartan or quotidian fever, and fasten them before
sunrise on another man's door as a cure for these
diseases. What a fraud if they lie ! What wicked-
ness if they pass the disease on ! c Less guilty are

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

his omnium digitorum resigmina unguium ad
cavernas formicarum abici iubent eamque quae prima
coeperit trahere correptam subnecti collo, ita discuti
morbum.

87 XXIV. Haec sunt quae retulisse fas sit ac pleraque
ex his non nisi honore dicto, reliqua intestabilia,
infanda, ut festinet oratio ab homine fugere. in
ceteris claritates animalium aut operum sequemur.
elephanti sanguis, praecipue maris, fluctiones omnes

88 quas rheumatismos vocant sistit. ramentis eboris
cum melle Attico, ut aiunt, nubeculae in facie, scobe
paronychia tolluntur. proboscidis tactu capitis dolor
levatur, eflicacius si et sternuat. dextra x pars
proboscidis cum Lemnia rubrica adalligata inpetus
libidinum stimulat. sanguis et syntecticis prodest,
iocurque comitialibus morbis.

89 XXV. Leonis adipes cum rosaceo cutem in facie
custodiunt a vitiis candoremque. sanant et adusta
nivibus articulorumque tumores. Magorum vanitas
perunctis adipe eo faciliorem gratiam apud populos
regesve promittit, praecipue tamen eo pingui quod

90 sit inter supercilia, ubi esse nullum potest. similia
dentis, maxime a dextera parte, villique e rostro
inferiore promissa sunt. fel aqua addita claritatem
oculis inunctis facit et cum adipe eiusdem comitiales
morbos discutit levi gustu et ut protinus qui sumpsere

1 Warmington coni. sternuat a dextra (aut ad dextram).
pars etc.

a See the List of Diseases.

b Does this mean a small piece taken from a dead animal ?
At any rate the sentence is queer, and one suspects corruption,
or else a lacuna after proboscidis. Warmington's suggestion
is a good one : " sneezes to the right. A bit of the trunk
etc." The triangular tip of the trunk is still regarded by

62

BOOK XXVIII. xxv. 86-xxv. 90

those of thera who tell us to cut all the nails, throw
the parings near ant holes, catch the first ant that
begins to drag a paring away, tie it round the neck,
and in this way the disease is cured.

XXIV. This is all the information it would be right
for me to repeat, most of which also needs an apology
from me. As the rest of it is detestable and un-
speakable, let me hasten to leave the subject of
remedies from man. Taking the other animals I
shall try to find what is striking either in them or in
their effects.

The blood of an elephant, particularly that of the Remedies
male, checks all the fluxes that are called rheumatismi.a *ei°eph<mt.
Ivory shavings with Attic honey are said to remove
dark spots on the face, and ivory dust whitlows.
By the touch of the trunk headache is relieved,
more successfully if the animal also sneezes. The
right side of the trunk b used as an amulet with
the red earth of Lemnos is aphrodisiac. The blood Remedies
too is good for consumption, and the liver for epilepsy. /™™

XXV. Lion fat with rose oil preserves fairness of
complexion and keeps the face free from spots ;
it also cures frost-bite and swollen joints. The lying
Magi promise those rubbed with this fat a readier
popularity with peoples and with kings, especially
when the fat is that between the brows, where no
fat can be. Similar promises are made about the
possession of a tooth, especially one from the right
side, and of the tuft beneath the muzzle. The gall,
used with the addition of water as a salve, improves
vision, and if lion fat is added a slight taste cures
epilepsy, provided that those who have taken it at

the Burmese as aphrodisiac. See Elephant Blll, by J. H.
Williams.

63

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

cursu id digerant. cor in cibo sumptum quartanis medc-
tur, adips cum rosaceo cotidianis febribus. perunctos
eo bestiae fugiunt, resistere etiam insidiis videtur.

91 XXVI. Cameli cerebrum arefactum potumque
ex aceto comitialibus morbis aiunt mederi, item fel
cum melle potum, hoc et anginae, cauda arefacta
solvi alvum, fimi cinere crispari capillum. cum oleo
et dysintericis prodest inlitus cinis potusque quantum
tribus digitis capiatur, et comitialibus morbis.
urinam fullonibus utilissimam esse tradunt itemque
ulceribus manantibus — barbaros constat servare eam
quinquennio et heminis pota x ciere alvum — saetas e
cauda contortas et sinistro bracchio allgiatas quartanis
mederi.

92 XXVII. Hyaenam Magi ex omnibus animalibus
in maxima admiratione posuerunt, utpote cui et ipsi
magicas artes dederint vimque qua alliciat ad se
homines mente alienatos. de permutatione sexus
annua vice diximus, ceteraque de monstrifica natura
eius ; nunc persequemur quaecumque medicinis

93 produntur. praecipue pantheris terrori esse traditur,
ut ne conentur quidem resistere, et aliquid e corio
eius habentem non adpeti, mirumque dictu, si pelles
utriusque contrariae suspendantur, decidere pilos

1 pota d vulg. Mayhoff : potae V Detlefsen : potam Sillig.
Mayhoff barbaros servare cum manantibus coniungit. Coni.
hemina Warmington.

a Mayhoff would put a full stop not after capillum but after
oleo. He refers to Dioscorides Euporista I 91 (97) : d-noTraTos
KafjLTjAov Kaeloa Kal avv iXalaj KaTanXaadelaa. This, however,
refers to an ointment for making children's hair beautiful
and thick, not to one for making any hair curly. Of course
some greasy base is usually necessary for the application
of any powder.

64

BOOK XXVIII. xxv. 90-xxvn. 93

once aid its digestion by running. The heart taken
as a food cures quartans ; the fat with rose oil cures
quotidians. Wild beasts run away from those
smeared with it, and it is supposed to protect even
from treachery.

XXVI. They say that a camel's brain, dried and Remedies
taken in vinegar, cures epilepsy, as does the gall {JJJJJJ,/**
taken with honey, this being also a remedy for
quinsy ; that the tail when dried is laxative, and

that the a^h of the burnt dung makes the hair curl.a
This ash applied with oil is also good for dysentery,
as is a three-finger pinch taken in drink, and also
for epilepsy. They say that the urine is very useful
to the fullers, and for running ulcers — it is a fact that
foreigners keep it for five years, and use hemina-
doses as a purgative — and that the tail hairs plaited
into an amulet for the left arm cure quartan fevers.

XXVII. The Magi have held in the highest ad- Remedies
miration the hyaena of all animals, seeing that they ^yZim^
have altributed even to an animal magical skill and
power,6 by which it takes away the senses and
entices men to itself. I have spoken c of its yearly
change of sex and its other weird characteristics ;

now I am going to speak of all that is reported about
its medicinal properties. It is said to be a terror to
panthers in particular, so that a panther does not
even attempt to resist an hyaena ; that a person
carrying anything made of hyaena leather is not
attacked, and, marvellous to relate, if the skins of
each are hung up opposite to one another the hairs

6 In Chapter XXIII were, it seems, several instances of vis
in the sense of " mana."

e See VIII. § 105. For the change of sex, Ovid Meta-
morphoses XV. 409 foll.

65

VOL. VIII. D

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

pantherae ; cum fugiant venantem, declinare ad
dexteram ut praegressi hominis vestigia occupent ;
quod si successerit, alienari mentem ac vel ex equo
hominem decidere ; at si in laevam detorserit,
deficientis argumentum esse celeremque capturam,
facilius autem capi, si cinctus suos venator flagellum-
que inperitans equo septenis alligaverit nodis.

94 mox, ut est sollers ambagibus vanitas Magorum,
capi iubent geminorum signum transeunte luna
singulosque prope pilos servari ; capitis dolori
inligatam cutem prodesse quae fuerit in capite eius ;
lippitudini fel inlitum frontibus aut, ne omnino
lippiatur, decoctum cum mellis Attici cyathis tribus
et croci uncia inunctum ; sic et caligines discuti et

95 suffusiones ; claritatem excitari melius inveterato
medicamento, adservari autem in Cypria pyxide ;
eodem sanari argema, scabritias, excrescentia in
oculis, item cicatrices, glaucomata vero iocineris
recentis inassati sanie cum despumato melle inunctis.
dentes eius dentium doloribus tactu prodesse vel
alligatos ordine,1 umeros umerorum et lacertorum
doloribus ; eiusdem dentes, si de sinistra parte rostri,
inligatos pecoris aut capri pelle stomachi cruciatibus,

96 pulmones in cibo sumptos coeliacis, ventriculis 2

1 ordine, humeros vulg., Detlefsen : numeri ordine Mayhoff :
humeri (umeri) ordine codd. An numeri ordine. humeros ?

2 ventricuhs codd. : vel ventricuh Mayhoff.

" With Mayhoff 's reading, " the shoulders " should be
omitted. This reading keeps the order of words in the MSS.,
but the sympathetic (or imitative) magic disappears.

66

BOOK XXVIII. xxvn. 93-96

of the panther fall off. When an hyaena is running
away from the hunter, any swerve it makes to the
right has for its object stepping in the man's tracks
as he now goes in front. If it succeeds, the
man is deranged and even falls off his horse.
Should however the hyaena swerve to the left, it
is a sign of failing strength and a speedy capture ;
this will be easier however if the hunter tie his
girdle with seven knots, and seven in the whip
with which he controls his horse. The Magi go on
to recommend, so cunning are the evasions of the
fraudulent charlatans, that the hyaena should be
captured when the moon is passing through the
constellation of the Twins, without, if possible,
the loss of a single hair. They add that the skin
of its head if tied on relieves headache ; that the
gall if applied to the forehead cures ophthalmia,
preventing it altogether if an ointment is made of gall
boiled down with three cyathi of Attic honey and
one ounce of saffron, and that the same prescription
disperses filrn and cataract. They say that clear
vision is secured better if the medicament is kept till
old, but it must be in a box of copper ; the same is
a cure for argema, scabbiness, excrescences and
scars on the eyes, but opaqueness needs an ointment
made with gravy from fresh roasted liver added to
skimmed honey. They add that hyaena's teeth
relieve toothache by the touch of the corresponding
tooth, or by using it as an amulet, and the shoulders °
relieve pains of the shoulders and arm muscles ; that
the animaFs teeth (but they must be from the left
side of the muzzle), wrapped in sheep skin or goat
skin, are good for severe pains in the stomach, the
lungs taken as food for coeliac disease, and their

67

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

cinerem cum oleo inlitum ; nervis medullas e dorso
cum oleo vetere ac felle ; febribus quartanis iocur
degustatum ter ante accessiones ; podagris spinae
cinerem cum lingua et dextro pede vituli marini
addito felle taurino, omnia pariter cocta atque inlita
hyaenae pelle ; in eodem morbo prodesse et fel

97 cum lapide Assio ; tremulis, spasticis, exilientibus
et quibus cor palpitet aliquid ex corde coctum
mandendum ita ut reliquae partis cinis cum cerebro
hyaenae inlinatur; pilos etiam auferri hac conposi-
tione inlita aut per se felle, evulsis prius quos renasci
non libeat ; sic et palpebris inutiles tolli ; lumborum
doloribus carnes e lumbis edendas inlinendasque cum
oleo ; sterilitatem mulierum emendari oculo cum
glycyrrhiza et aneto sumpto in cibo, promisso intra

98 triduum conceptu. contra nocturnos pavores um-
brarumque terrorem unus e magnis dentibus lino
alligatus succurrere narratur. suffiri furentes eodem
et circumligari ante pectus cum adipe renium aut
iocinere aut pelle * praecipiunt. mulieri candida a
pectore hyaenae caro et pili septem 2 et genitale
cervi, si inligentur dorcadis pelle, e 3 collo suspensa

99 continere partus promittuntur ; venerem stimulare
genitalia ad sexus suos 4 in melle sumpta, etiamsi

1 pelle codd. : felle coni. Mayhoff, forta-sse recte.

2 septem codd. : septeni Mayhoff.

3 e add. Mayhoff : om. codd.

* ad sexus suos codd. : ab sexu suo coni. Maylwff.

° The power of the number three is superior to the imitative
magic of the " four " that we should expect for quartans.

6 See XXXVI. § 131 for the sarcophagm lapis found at
Assos in the Troad.

c MayhofTs felle for the pelle of the MSS. is most attractive.
A few words later on pelle occurs, and might easily cause the
change from felle to pelle.
68

BOOK XXVIII. xxvn. 96-99

ash, applied with oil, for pain in the belly ; that
sinews are soothed by its spinal marrow with its gall
and old oil, quartan fevers relieved by threea tastes
of the liver before the attacks, gout by the ash of the
spine, with the tongue and right foot of a seal added
to bulTs gall, all being boiled together and applied
on hyaena skin. In the same disease the gall of the
hyaena (so they say) with the stone of Assos b is
beneficial; adding that those afflicted with tremors,
spasms, jumpiness, and palpitation, should eat a
piece of the heart boiled, but the rest must be
reduced to ash and hyaena's brain added to make
an ointment ; that an application of this mixture
or of the gall by itself removes hairs, those not
wanted to grow again must first be pulled out ;
by this method unwanted eye-lashes are removed;
that for pains in the loins flesh of an hyaena's loins
should be eaten and used as an ointment with
oil ; that barrenness in women is cured by an eye
taken in food with liquorice and dill, conception
being guaranteed within three days. For night
terrors and fear of ghosts one of the large teeth tied
on with thread as an amulet is said to be a help.
They recommend fumigation with such a tooth
for delirium, and to tie one round in front of the
patient's chest, adding fat from the kidneys, or a piece
of liver, or of skin.c A woman is guaranteed never to
miscarry if, tied round her neck in gazelle leather,
she wears white flesh from a hyaena's breast, seven
hyaena's hairs, and the genital organ of a stag. A
hyaena's genitals taken in honey stimulate desire
for their own sex,d even when men hate inter-

d Mayhoffs a sexu suo would mean " from homosexu-
ality."

69

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

viri nuilierum coitus oderint ; quin immo totius
domus concordiam eodem genitali et articulo spinae
cum adhaerente corio adservatis constare. hunc l
spinae 2 articulum sive 3 nodum Atlantion vocant ;
est autem primus. in comitialium quoque remediis

100 habent eum. adipe accenso serpentes fugari dicunt ;
maxilla comminuta in aneso et in cibo sumpta horrores
sedari; eodem suffitu mulierum menses evocari.
tantumque est vanitatis ut, si ad bracchium alligetur
superior e dextra parte rostri dens, iaculantium ictus
deerraturos negent. palato eiusdem arefacto et
cum alumine Aegyptio calefacto ac ter in ore per-
mutato faetores et ulcera oris emendari, eos vero
qui linguam in calciamento sub pede habeant non

101 latrari a canibus ; sinistra parte cerebri naribus
inlita morbos perniciosos mitigari sive hominum sive
quadripedum ; frontis corium fascinationibus re-
sistere, cervicis carnes, sive mandantur sive arefactae
bibantur, lumborum doloribus ; nervis a dorso
armisque suffiendos nervorum dolores, pilos rostri
admotos mulierum labris amatorium esse ; iocur in

102 potu datum torminibus et calculis mederi. nam cor
in cibo potuve sumptum omnibus doloribus corporum
auxiliari, lienem lienibus, omentum ulcerum inrlam-
mationibus cum oleo, medullas doloribus spinae
et nervorum lassitudini ; renium nervos potos in

1 hunc r : hinc rel. codd.
- spinae rel. codd. : ruinae r.

3 sive codd. : scite Mayhoff, qui etiam lacunam ante sive
coni.

a The text is very uncertain, but Mayhoff 's scite (" cleverly ")
can hardly be right. The variant ruinae shows that the source
of corruption lies very deep.

7o

BOOK XXVIII. xxvii. 99-102

course with women ; nay the peaoe of the whole
household is assured by keeping in the home these
genitals and a vertebra with the hide still adhering to
them. This vertebra or joint they call the Atlas
joint : a it is the first. They consider it too to be one
of the remedies for epilepsy. They add that burn-
ing hyaena fat keeps serpents away ; that the
jawbone, pounded in anise and taken in food, relieves
fits of shivering, and that fumigation with it is an
emmenagogue. They lie so grossly as to declare
that, if an upper tooth from the right side of the
muzzle is tied to the arm of a man, his javelin will
never miss its mark. They say too that the palate of
a hyaena, dried, and warmed with Egyptian alum,b
cures foul breath and ulcers in the mouth, if the
mixture is renewed three times ; that those however
who carry a hyaena's tongue in their shoe under
the foot never have dogs bark at them ; that if a
part of the left side of the brain is smeared on
patients' nostrils dangerous diseases are relieved,
whether of man or quadruped ; that the hide of the
forehead averts the evil eye, and the flesh of the
neck, whether eaten, or dried and taken in drink, is
good for lumbago ; that sinews from the back and
shoulders should be used for fumigating painful
sinews ; that hairs from the muzzle, applied to a
woman's lips, act as a love-charm ; that the liver
given in drink cures colic and stone in the bladder.
But they add that the heart, taken either in food or in
drink, gives relief from all pains of the body, the
spleen from those of the spleen, the caul with oil from
inflamed ulcers, and the marrow from pains of the
spine and of tired sinews ; that the kidney sinews
6 For alumen see Spencer's Celsus vol. II p. xviii.

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

vino cum ture fecunditatem restituere ademptam
veneficio ; vulvam cum mali Punici dulcis cortice
in potu datam prodesse mulierum vulvae ; adipe a
lumbis suffiri parientes difficulter et statim parere ; e
dorso medullam adalligatam contra vanas species

103 opitulari, spasticis genitale e maribus suffitu, item
lippientibus ; ruptis et contra inflammationes,
servatos l pedes tactu, laevos dexteris partibus,
dexteros laevis ; sinistrum pedem superlatum par-
turienti letalem esse, dextro inlato facile eniti.
membranam quae fel continuerit cardiacis potam in
vino vel in cibo sumptam 2 succurrere ; vesicam in
vino potam contra urinae incontinentiam ; quae

104 autem in vesica inventa sit urina, additis oleo ac
sesamis et melle haustam prodesse stomachi acri-
moniae 3 veteri. costarum primam et octavam
suffitu ruptis salutarem esse ; ex spina vero partu-
rientibus ossa; sanguinem cum polenta sumptum
torminibus ; eodem tactis postibus ubicumque
Magorum infestari artes, non elici deos nec conloqui,

1 servatos codd. : adversos Mayhoff, qui etiam alternos
coni. : fervefaetos coni. Sillig.

2 Post sumptam habent contra (r excepto) codd. : post
contra lacunam indicat Mayhoff.

3 stomachi acrimoniae Mayhoff : acrimoniae Caesarius :
aegrimoniae Gelenius, Hermolaus Barbarus : aegrimonio
codd.

a A semicolon at lippientibus improves the run of this
sentence.

6 The servatos of the MSS. can hardly be right, but it just
makes sense, and the proposed emendations are not convincing.

72

BOOK XXVIII. xxvii. 102-104

taken with frankincense in wine restore fertility
lost through sorcery ; that the uterus with the rind
of a sweet pomegranate given in drink is good for the
uterus of women ; that the fat from the loins, used
in fumigation, gives even immediate delivery to
women in difficult labour; that the spinal marrow
used as an amulet is a help against hallucinations,
and fumigation with the male organ against spasms,
as well as ophthalmia ; ° that for ruptures and inflam-
mations a help is the touch of an hyaena's feet, which
are kept for the purpose,6 of the left foot for affec-
tions on the right side, and of the right foot for
affections on the left side ; that the left foot, drawn
across c a woman in labour, causes death, but the right
foot laid on c her easy delivery. The Magi say that
the membrane enclosing the gall, taken in wine or
in the food, is of use in cardiac affections ; that the
bladder taken in wine relieves incontinence of urine,
and the urine found in the bladder, drunk with oil,
sesame, and honey added, relieves chronic acidity
of the stomach ; d that the first or e eighth rib,
used in fumigation, is curative for ruptures, but the
spinal bones are so for women in labour ; the blood
taken with pearl barley is good for colic, and if the
door-posts are everywhere touched with this blood,
the tricks of the Magi are made ineffective, for they
can neither call down the gods nor speak with them,

c Littre, I think wrongly, translates as though superlatum
and inlatum meant the same thing.

d Mayhoffs emendation, bold as it is, is strongly supported
by acrimonia stomachi in XXIII. § 142 ; otherwise, to keep
the idea of like curing like, one would be tempted to emend
to urinae acrimoniae veteri.

e This is probably the meaning of the et in this clause
because of the singular salutarem in the predicate.

73

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

sive lucernis sive pelvi, sive aqua sive pila, sive quo
alio genere temptetur; carnes si edantur, contra
rabidi canis morsus efficaces esse, etiamnum iocur
efficacius. carnes vel ossa hominis quae in ventriculo

105 occisae inveniantur suffitu podagricis auxiliari ;
si ungues inveniantur in his, mortem alicuius capien-
tium significari; excrementa sive ossa reddita, cum
interematur, contra magicas insidias pollere ; fimum
quod in intestinis inventum sit arefactum ad dysin-
tericos valere, potum inlitumque cum adipe an-
serino toto corpore opitulari laesis malo medicamento ;
a cane vero morsis adipem inlitum et corium sub-
stratum ; rursus tali sinistri cinere decocto cum

106 sanguine mustelae perunctos omnibus odio venire ;
idem fieri oculo decocto. super omnia est quod
extremam fistulam intestini contra ducum ac
potestatium iniquitates commonstrant et ad suc-
cessus petitionum iudiciorumque ac litium eventus,
si omnino x aliquis secum habeat ; eiusdem caverna
in sinistro lacerto alligata si quis mulierem prospiciat,
amatorium esse tam praesens ut ilico sequatur ;
eiusdem loci pilorum cinerem ex oleo inlitum viris
qui sint probrosae mollitiae severos, non modo
pudicos mores induere.

1 omnino Mayhoff : omnino tantum codd.

a For another list of apparatus see XXX. § 14 aqua et
sphaeris et aere et stellis et lucernis ac pelvibus securibusque.
Some of the articles are suggestive of modern fortune-telling.

74

BOOK XXVIII. xxvii. 104-106

whether they try lamps, bowl, water, globe,° or any
other means ; that to eat the flesh neutralizes the
bites of a mad dog, the liver being still more efficacious.
They add that the flesh or bones of a man found in the
stomach of an hyaena when killed relieve gout by
fumigation ; that if finger nails are found in them
it is a sign of death for one of the hunters ;
that excrement or bones, voided when the beast
is being killed, can prevail against the insidious
attacks of sorcerers ; that dung found in the in-
testines is, when dried, excellent for dysentery,
and, taken in drink and applied with goose grease,
gives relief anywhere in the body to the victims
of noxious drugs ; that for dog-bites, however,
rubbing with the fat as ointment, and lying on
the skin, are helpful; that on the other hand
those rubbed with the ash of the left pastern bone,
boiled down with weaseVs blood, incur universal
hatred, the same effect being produced by a decoction
of the eye. Over and above all these things they
assert that the extreme end of the intestine prevails
against the injustices of leaders and potentates,
bringing success to petitions and a happy issue to
trials and lawsuits if it is merely kept on the person ;
that the anus, worn as an amulet on the left arm,
is so powerful a love-charm that, if a man but espies
a woman, she at once follows him ; that the hairs
also of this part, reduced to ashes, mixed with oil,
and used as ointment on men guilty of shocking
effeminacy, make them assume, not only a modest
character, but one of the strictest morality.b

b This remarkable chapter, throwing light as it does on folk-
medicine and ancient superstitions, calls for a longer note than
can be printed in the text. See Additional Note B (p. 563).

75

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

107 XXVIII. Proxime fabulosus est crocodilus ingenio *
quoque, ille cui vita in aqua terraque communis.
duo enim genera eorum. illius e dextra maxilla
dentes adalligati dextro lacerto coitus, si credimus,
stimulant, canini dentes febres statas arcent ture
repleti — sunt enim cavi — ita ne diebus quinque ab
aegro cernatur qui adalligaverit. idem pollere et
ventre exemptos lapillos adversus febrium horrores

108 venientes tradunt. eadem de causa Aegypti perun-
gunt adipe aegros suos. alter illi similis, multum
infra magnitudine, in terra tantum odoratissimisque
floribus vivit. ob id intestina eius diligenter ex-
quiruntur iucundo nidore referta ; crocodileam
vocant, oculorum vitiis utilissimam cum porri suco

109 inunctis et contra suffusiones vel caligines. inlita
quoque ex oleo cyprino molestias in facie nascentes
tollit, ex aqua vero morbos omnes quorum natura
serpit in facie, nitoremque reddit. lentigines tollit
ac varos maculasque omnes, et contra comitiales
morbos bibitur ex aceto mulso binis obolis. adposita
menses ciet. optima quae candidissima et friabilis
minimeque ponderosa, cum teratur inter digitos,

110 fermentescens. lavatur ut cerussa. adulterant amylo
aut Cimolia, sed maxime «(sturnorum fimo quos) 2
captos oryza tantum pascunt. felle inunctis oculis
ex melle contra suffusiones nihil utilius praedicant.

1 ingenio (ingento V) codd.: ingens Harduinus. Post
magnitudine (/. 11) ingenio quoque transferre velit Warmington,
fortasse recte.

2 sturnoruni fimo quos Ianus, Detlefsen, ex Dioscoride
{II 80), sed qui r Gelenius, Mayhoff: sui VRd vulg.

° Hardouin's ingenious conjecture would mean : " and he is a
huge creature, and amphibious."

6 Jan's addition is due to Dioscorides II 80 : 8oAi£ouai 8c av-rqv
iftapas 6pvt,rj rpecfrovres /cai ttjv a<f>o8ov ofioiav ovoav ttu)Aovvt€S.

76

BOOK XXVIII. xxvm. 107-110

XXVIII. Almost as legendary is the crocodile, Crocodiies.
in its nature ° also — I mean the famous one, which
is amphibious; for there are two kinds of crocodiles.
His teeth from the right jaw, worn as an amulet
on the right arm, are (if we believe it) aphrodisiac,
while the dog teeth, stuffed with frankincense
(for they are hollow), drive away the intermittent
fevers if the sick man can be kept for five days
from seeing the person who fastened them on.
It is said that pebbles taken from his belly have
a similar power to check feverish shivers as they
come on. For the same reason the Egyptians rub
their sick with its fat. The other kind of crocodile
is similar to this, though much smaller in size, living
only on land and eating very sweet-scented flowers.
Its intestines therefore are much in demand, being
filled with fragrant stuff called crocodilea, which
with leek juice makes a very useful salve for affections
of the eyes, and to treat cataract or films. Applied
also with cyprus oil crocodilea removes blotches
appearing on the face, with water indeed all those
diseases the nature of which is to spread over the face,
and it also clears the complexion. It removes
freckles, pimples, and all spots ; two-oboli doses
are taken in oxymel for epilepsy, and a pessary
made of it acts as an emmenagogue. The best kind
is very shiny, friable, and extremely light, ferment-
ing when rubbed between the fingers. It is washed
in the same way as white lead. They adulterate it
with starch or Cimolian chalk, but mostly with
the dung of starlings,b which they catch and feed
on nothing but rice. We are assured that there is no
more useful remedy for cataract than to anoint the
eyes with crocodile's gall and honey. They say

77

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

intestinis et reliquo corpore eius suffiri vulva labor-
antes salutare tradunt, item velleribus circumdari
vapore eiusdem infectis. corii utriusque cinis ex
aceto inlitus his partibus quas secari opus sit aut
nidor cremati sensum omnem scalpelli aufert.

111 sanguis utriusque claritatem visus inunctis . . .x
cicatrices oculorum emendat. corpus ipsum excepto
capite pedibusque elixum manditur ischiadicis tus-
simque veterem sanat, praecipue in pueris, item
lumborum dolores. habent et adipem quo tactus
pilus defluit. hic perunctos a crocodilis tuetur,
instillaturque morsibus. cor adnexum in lana ovis
nigrae cui nullus alius colos incursaverit et primo
partu genitae quartanas abigere dicitur.

112 XXIX. Iungemus illis simillima et peregrina aeque
animalia, priusque chamaeleonem peculiari volumine
dignum existimatum Democrito ac per singula
membra desecratum,2 non sine magna voluptate
nostra cognitis proditisque mendaciis Graecae vani-
tatis. similis et magnitudine est supra dicto croco-
dilo, spinae tantum acutiore curvatura et caudae

113 amplitudine distans.3 nullum animal pavidius existi-
matur et ideo versicoloris esse mutationis. vis eius
maxima contra accipitrum genus. detrahere enim
supervolantem ad se traditur et voluntarium praebere

1 Lacunam indicavi : dat Detlefsen : excitat Mayhoff,
qui etiam facit coni.

2 desecratum R d : dissertatum coni. Mayhoff.

3 distans] " Locus nondum sanatm " Mayhoff.

° Does the et mean " or " ? The phrase is a queer one,
unless it means that the body used in the fumigation should
contain the intestines, which are essential for a cure.

/8

BOOK XXVIII. xxviii. no-xxix. 113

that fumigation with the intestines and ° the rest
of its body is of benefit to women with uterine
trouble, as it is to wrap them up in a fleece im-
pregnated with its steam. Ashes from burning the
skin of either kind of crocodile, applied in vinegar
to the parts in need of surgery, or even the fumes,
cause no pain to be felt from the lancet. The
blood of either kind, if the eyes are anointed with
it, improves the vision and removes eye scars. The
body itself, boiled without the head and feet, is
eaten for sciatica and cures chronic cough, especially
that of children, as well as lumbago. Crocodiles also
have a fat, a touch of which makes hair fall out.
Used as embrocation this protects from crocodiles,
and is poured by drops into their bites. The heart,
tied on in the wool of a black sheep, the first-born
of its mother, the wool having no other colour
intermixed, is said to drive away quartan fevers.b

XXIX. To these animals I will add others very Chamaeieon.
like them and equally foreign, taking first the
chamaeleon, thought by Democritus worthy of
a volume to itself, each part of the body receiving
separate attention. It afforded me great amuse-
ment to read an exposure of Greek lies and fraud.
The chamaeleon is also as big as the crocodile just
mentioned,c differing only in the greater curve of the
spine and in the size of its tail. People think it the
most timid of animals, and that it is for this reason
it continually changes its colour. Over the hawk
family it has very great power, for as a hawk flies
overhead, it is brought down to the chamaeleon,

6 Quartans were supposed to be caused by black bile. See
Hippocrates, Nature of Man, ch. XV (Loeb IV, p. 41).
c I.e. the land animal of § 108.

79

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

lacerandum ceteris animalibus. caput eius et guttur,
si roboreis lignis accendantur, imbrium et tonitruum
concursus facere Democritus narrat, item iocur in

114 tegulis ustum. reliqua ad veneficia pertinentia quae
dicit, quamquam * falsa existimantes, omittemus
praeterquam ubi inrisu coarguendum : 2 dextro
oculo, si viventi eruatur, albugines oculorum cum
lacte caprino tolli, lingua adalligata pericula puer-
perii ; eundem salutarem esse parturientibus, si sit
domi, si vero inferatur, perniciosissimum. linguam,
si viventi exempta sit, ad iudiciorum eventus pollere,
cor adversus quartanas inligatum lana nigra primae

115 tonsurae. pedem e prioribus dextrum pelle hyaenae
adalligatum sinistro bracchio contra latrocinia terro-
resque nocturnos pollere, item dextram mamillam 3
contra formidines pavoresque ; sinistrum vero pedem
torreri in furno cum herba quae aeque chamaeleon
vocetur, additoque unguento pastillos eos 4 in ligneum
vas conditos praestare, si credimus, ne cernatur ab

116 aliis qui id habeat. armum dextrum ad vincendos
adversarios vel hostes valere, utique si abiectos
eiusdem nervos calcaveris — sinistrum umerum5 quibus
monstris consecret, qualiter somnia quae velis et
quibus velis mittantur, pudet referre — somnia ea
dextro pede resolvi, sicut sinistro latere lethargos quos

1 quamquam codd., edd. : tanquam vet. Dal.

2 coarguendum d( ?) Gelenius : coarguent eum Mayhoff :
coarguentium VR vulg.

3 mamillam codd. edd. : maxillam vet. Dal.

4 eos codd. : factos coni. Mayhoff.

6 umerum codd. Detlefsen : vero Mayhoff : mirum vulg.

a And therefore harmless.

6 Perhaps " chamaeleon; " eundem is ambiguous.

8o

BOOK XXVIII. xxix. 113-116

they say, and made an unresisting prey for other
animals to tear. Democritus relates that its head
and throat, if burnt on logs of oak, cause storms
of rain and thunder, as does the liver if burnt
on tiles. The rest of what he says is of the
nature of sorcery, and although I think that it is
untrue,° I shall omit all, except where something
must be refuted by being laughed at ; examples are
as follow. The right eye, plucked from the living
animal and added to goat's milk, removes white
ulcers on the eyes ; the tongue, worn as an amulet,
the perils of childbirth. The same eye,5 if in the
house, is favourable to childbirth ; if brought in,
very dangerous. The tongue, taken from the living
animal, controls the results of cases in the courts ;
the heart, tied on with black wool of the first shear-
ing, overcomes quartan fevers. The right front
foot, tied as an amulet to the left arm by hyaena
skin, is powerful protection against robbery and
terrors of the night, and the right teat c against fears
and panic. The left foot however is roasted in a
furnace with the plant that also is called chamaeleon.
an unguent is added, and the lozenges thus made
are stored away in a wooden vessel and, if we believe
it, make the owner invisible to others. The right
shoulder has power to overcome adversaries and
public enemies, especially if a person throws away
sinews of the same animal and treads on them. But
as to the left shoulder, I am ashamed to repeat the
grotesque magic that Democritus assigns to it ; how
any dreams you like be may sent to any person you
like ; how these dreams are dispelled by the right
foot, just as the torpor caused by the right foot is

e The conjecture maxillam will mean " jaw."

81

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

fecerit dexter. sic * capitis dolores insperso vino
in quo latus alterutrum maceratum sit sanari. si
feminis sinistri vel pedis cinere misceatur lac suillum,

117 podagricos fieri 2 inlitis pedibus. felle glaucomata
et sumisiones corrigi prope creditur tridui inunctione,
serpentes fugari ignibus instillato, mustelas contrahi
in aquam coiecto, corpori vero inlito detrahi pilos.
idem praestare narrat iocur cum ranae rubetae
pulmone inlitum, praeterea iocinere amatoria dissolvi,
melancholicos autem sanari, si ex corio chamaeleonis
sucus herbae Heleniae bibatur, intestina et fartum
eorum, cum animal id nullo cibo vivat, cum 3 simi-
arum urina inlita inimicorum ianuae odium omnium

118 hominum his conciliare ; cauda flumina et aquarum
impetus sisti, serpentes soporari ; eadem medicata
cedro et murra inligataque gemino ramo palmae
percussam aquam discuti, ut quae intus sint omnia
appareant, utinamque eo ramo contactus esset
Democritus, quoniam ita loquacitates inmodicas
promisit inhiberi. palamque est virum alias sagacem
et vitae utilissimum nimio iuvandi mortales studio
prolapsum.

119 XXX. Ex eadem similitudine est scincus — et
quidam terrestrem crocodilum esse dixerunt —
candidior autem et tenuiore cute. praecipua tamen

1 sic d T Detlefsen : set Mayhoff : sit V R : del. vulg.

2 fieri codd. edd. : liberari vel sanari coni. Mayhoff: refici
vel sanos fieri Warmington.

3 cum] Add. Detlefsen : post urina add. una Mayhoff.

a Probably some emendation is required meaning " cured."
b Littre thinks that Pliny is here giving both the Greek

word (glaucoma) and the Latin (suffusio) for one disease of the

eye.

c A plain instance of vero introducing the climax of a list.

82

BOOK XXVIII. xxix. 116-xxx. 119

dispelled by the left flank. In this way headache
is cured by sprinkling on the head wine in which
either side of a chamaeleon has been soaked. If
sow's milk is mixed with the ash of the left thigh
or foot, gout is caused a by rubbing the feet with the
mixture. It is practically a current belief that
anointing the eyes for three days with the gall is a
cure for opaqueness of the eye and cataract,6 that
serpents run away if the gall is dropped into fire,
that weasels run together when it is thrown into
water, while c hairs are removed from the body when
it is rubbed therewith. Democritus relates that the
same result comes from applying the liver with the
lung of the bramble toad ; that moreover the liver
makes of no effect love charms and philtres, curing
melancholy also if the juice of the herb helenium
is drunk in a chamaeleon's skin ; that the intestines
and their content (although the animal lives without
food) with the urine of apes, if smeared on the door
of an enemy, brings on him the hatred of all men ;
that by its tail rivers and rushing waters are stayed
and serpents put to sleep ; that the tail also, if
treated with cedar and myrrh and tied on to a twin
palm-branch, divides the water struck with it, so that
all within becomes plain. Would that Democritus
had been touched with such a branch, seeing that he
assures us that by it wild talk is restrained! It is
clear that a man, in other respects of sound judgement
and of great service to humanity, fell very low
through his over-keenness to help mankind.

XXX. A similar animal is the scincos d — and Thc stincos.
indeed it has been styled the land crocodile — but it is
paler, and with a thinner skin. The chief difference,

dNot the lizard now called the skink but a larger onc.

83

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

differentia dinoscitur a crocodilo squamarum serie
a cauda ad caput versa. maximus Indicus, deinde
Arabicus. adferuntur salsi. rostrum eius et pedes
in vino albo poti cupiditates veneris accendunt,
utique cum satyrio et erucae semine singulis drachmis
omnium ac piperis duabus admixtis. ita pastilli

120 singularum drachmarum bibantur. per se laterum
carnes obolis binis cum murra et pipere pari modo
potae efficaeiores ad idem creduntur. prodest et
contra sagittarum venena, ut Apelles tradit, ante
posteaque sumptus. in antidota quoque nobilia
additur. Sextius plus quam drachmae pondere
in vini hemina potum perniciem adferre tradit,
praeterea eiusdem x decocti ius cum melle sumptum
venerem inhibere.

121 XXXI. Est crocodilo cognatio quaedam amnis
eiusdem geminique victus cum hippopotamio, re-
pertore detrahendi sanguinis, ut diximus,' plurimo
autem super Saiticam praefecturam. huius corii
cinis cum aqua inlitus panos sanat, adips frigidas
febres, item fimum suffitu, dentes e parte laeva
dolorem dentium scarifatis gingivis. pellis eius e

1 eiusdem codd. : lentium Gesner e Dioscoride II 66.

° I.e. with no other part of the beast added.

6 A native of Thasos mentioned by Galen.

c Sextius Niger, " who wrote in Greek," as Pliny says in
his list of authorities, was a writer on materia medica. He is
mentioned by both Dioscorides and Galen. Some scholars
believe that Pliny drew much of his information from this
source, as he never mentions Dioscorides.

d The reason for Gesner's emendation lentium is that
Dioscorides in his account of the oKiyKos (II 66 Wellmann)

84

BOOK XXVIII. xxx. 119-xxxi. i2i

however, between it and the crocodile is in the
arrangement of the scales, which are turned from the
tail towards the head. The Indian is the biggest
scincos, next coming the Arabian. They import
them salted. Its muzzle and feet, taken in white
wine, are aphrodisiac, especially with the addition
of satyrion and rocket seed, a single drachma of all
three and two drachmae of pepper being com-
pounded. One-drachma lozenges of the compound
should be taken in drink. Two oboli of the flesh of
the flanks by itself,a taken in drink with myrrh and
pepper in similar proportions, are believed to be
more efficacious for the same purpose. It is also
good for the poison of arrows, as Apelles b informs us,
if taken before and after the wound. It is also an
ingredient of the more celebrated antidotes.
Sextius c says that more than a drachma by weight,
taken in a hemina of wine, is a fatal dose, and that
moreover the broth of a scincos d taken with honey is
antaphrodisiac.

XXXI. There is a kind of relationship between Hippo-
the crocodile and the hippopotamus, for they both ^0
live in the same river and both are amphibious. The
hippopotamus, as I have related,* was the discoverer
of bleeding, and is most numerous above the pre-
fecture of Sais. His hide, reduced to ash and applied
with water, cures superficial abscesses ; the fat and
likewise the dung chilly agues by fumigation, and the
teeth on the left side, if the gums are scraped with
them, aching teeth. The hide from the left side of
his forehead, worn as an amulet on the groin, is an

says : avaTravcoOai Se tt)v cVitooiv rrjs TTpodvp.ias <j>aKov a<f>ei}>r)p.aTi
/Li€T(i /xeXiTOS TTi.vop.4va>.
• Book VIII. § 96.

85

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

sinistra parte frontis inguini adalligata venerem
inhibet, eiusdem cinis alopecias explet. testiculi
drachma ex aqua contra serpentes bibitur. sanguine
pictores utuntur.

122 XXXII. Peregrinae sunt et lynces, quae clarissime
quadripedum omnium cernunt. ungues earum omnes
cum corio exuri efficacissime in Carpatho insula
tradunt. hoc cinere poto propudia virorum, eius-
demque aspersu feminarum libidines inhiberi, item
pruritus corporum, urina stillicidia vesicae. itaque
eam protinus terra pedibus adgesta obruere traditur.
eadem autem et iugulorum dolori monstratur in
remedio.

123 XXXIII. Hactenus de externis. nunc praever-
temur ad nostrum orbem, primumque communia
animalium remedia atque eximia dicemus, sicuti e
lactis usu. utilissimum cuique maternum. [conci-
pere nutrices exitiosum est, hi sunt enim infantes qui
colostrati appellantur, densato lacte in casei speciem.
est autem colostra prima a partu spongea densitas
lactis.] x maxime autem alit quodcumque humanum,
mox caprinum, unde fortassis fabulae Iovem ita
nutritum dixere. dulcissimum ab hominis cameli-
num, efficacissimum ex asinis. magnorum animalium

124 et corporum facilius redditur. stomacho adcommo-
datissimum caprinum, quoniam fronde magis quam

1 uncos ego posui.

" I think that this sentence belongs elsewhere, perhaps
after § 72. Another possibility is that Plinj' forgot what he
said in XI. § 237, where he calls colo.stratio an ailment caused
by the young\s taking mother's milk too soon. If Pliny wrote
concipere . . . speciem, the next sentence, est autem . . .
lact%8, might be a scribe's marginal correction, which was

86

BOOK XXVIII. xxxi. 121-xxxiii. 124

antaphrodisiac ; the same reduced to ash restores
hair lost through mange. A drachma of a testicle
is taken in water for snake bite. The blood is used
by painters.

XXXII. The lynx too is a foreign animal, and has Lynx.
keener sight than any other quadruped. On the
island of Carpathus all their nails, with the hide, make,

it is said, a very efficacious medicine when reduced
to ash by burning. They say that these ashes
taken in drink by men check shameful conduct, and
sprinkled on women lustful desire ; that they also
cure irritation of the skin and that the urine cures
strangury. And so, as is said, the animal at once
covers it with earth by scratching with his paws.
This urine is also prescribed for pain in the throat.

XXXIII. Hitherto I have dealt with things foreign, Miiks.
but will now turn to the Roman world, speaking first

of remedies common to all animals and excellent in
quality, such as milk and its uses. Mother's milk is
for everybody the most beneficial. [It is very bad
for women to conceive while nursing ; their nurseiings
are called colostrati, the milk being thick like cheese.
But colostra is the first milk given after delivery, and
is thick and spongy.] a But anv woman's rnilk is
more nouri^hing than any other kind, the next being
that of the goat ; this perhaps is the origin of the storv
that Jupiter was nursed in this way. The sweetest milk
after woman's is that of the camel, the most efficacious
that of the ass. A big species or a big individual
yields its milk more readily. Goat's milk is the most
suited to the stomach, as the animal browses rather

aftenvards added to the text. It should be noticed that the
connection of thought is easy and natural if maxime autem
follows immediately after rnaternum.

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

herba vescuntur. bubulum medicatius, ovillum dul-
cius et magis alit, stomacho minus utile, quoniam est
pinguius. ornne autem vernum aquatius aestivo et
de novellis. probatissimum vero quod in ungue
haeret nec defluit. innocentius decoctum, praecipue
cum calculis marinis. alvus maxime solvitur bubulo,
minus autem inflat quodcumque decoctum. usus

125 lactis ad omnia intus exulcerata, maxime renes,
vesicam, interanea, fauces, pulmones, foris pruritum
cutis, eruptiones pituitae poti ab l abstinentia.2 nam
ut in Arcadia bubulum biberent phthisici, syntectici,
cachectae, diximus in ratione herbarum. sunt inter
exempla qui asininum bibendo liberati sint podagra

126 chiragrave. medici speciein unam addidere lactis
generibus quod schiston appellavere. id fit hoc
modo : fictili novo fervet caprinum maxime, ramisque
ficulneis recentibus miscetur additis totidem cyathis
mulsi quot sint heminae lactis. cum fervet, ne 3 cir-
cumfundatur praestat cyathus argenteus cum frigida
aqua demissus ita ne quid infundat. ablatum deinde
igni refrigeratione dividitur et discedit serum a lacte.

127 quidam et ipsum serum iam multo potentissimum

1 poti ab f : poti at F : potior d x : poscit R : post r.

2 abstinentia Vdx vulg. : abstinentiam R. In textu poti ab
abstinentia et Detlefsen et Mayhoff, qui addit : " locus nondum
sanatus.an posci abstinentia medicaminum ut in sqq ? Cfr.
XXV 94."

3 ne Hermolaus Barbarus, Mayhoff : ni codd., Detlefsen.

° Dioscorides has (II. § 70) p.a\iara ok hiairvpois /cd^Aa^iv
€$iK(iaodev (" especialiy when boiled down by hot pebbles ").
Pliny seems to have misunderstood his original, or to have
had different Greek before him.

6 For a good account of modern uses of milk see W. T.
Fernie, Animal Simples, pp. 301-317.

c For eruptiones pituitae see List of Diseases.

88

BOOK XXVIII. xxxin. 124-127

than grazes. Cow's milk is more medicinal, sheep's
sweeter and more nourishing, although less useful for
the stomach because of its greater richness. All
spring milk, however, is more watery than that of
summer, as is that from new pastures. The highest
grade, however, is that of which a drop stays on the
nail without falling oflf. Milk is less harmful when
boiled, especially with sea pebbles.0 Cow's milk is
the most relaxing, and any milk causes less flatulence
when boiled.b Milk is used for all internal ulcers,
especially those of the kidneys, bladder, intestines,
throat, and lungs, externally for irritation of the
skin, and for outbursts of phlegm,c but it must be
drunk after fasting.d And I have mentioned in my
account of herbs e how in Arcadia cow's milk is drunk
by consumptives, and by those in a decline or poor
state of health. Cases too are quoted of patients
who by drinking ass's milk have been freed from gout
in feet or hands. To the various kinds of milk
phvsicians have added another, named schiston, that
is, " divided." It is made in this way : milk, by
preference goat's milk, is boiled in new/ earthen-
ware and stirred with fresh branches of a fig-tree,
after adding as many cyathi of honey wine as there
are heminae of milk. When it boils, to prevent its
boiling over a silver cyathus of cold water is lowered
into it so that none is spilled. Then taken off the
fire it divides as it cools, and the whey separates from
the milk. Some also boil down to one-third the

d It is difficult to see why Mayhoff cahs this passage locus
nondum sanatus. The gramrnar, at any rate, is no looser than
in manv other places.

* See* XXV. § 94.

f Why new ? Probably so as to avoid contamination or
for a magical reason.

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

decocunt ad tertias partes et sub diu refrigerant.
bibitur autem efficacissime heminis per intervalla,
statis * diebus quinae ; melius a potu gestari. datur
comitialibus, melancholicis, paralyticis, in lepris,

128 elephantiasi, articulariis morbis. infunditur quoque
lac contra rosiones a medicamentis factas et, si urat
dysinteria, decoctum cum marinis lapillis aut cum
tisana hordeacia. item ad intestinorum rosiones bu-
bulum aut ovillum utilius, recens quoque dysintericis
infunditur, ad colum autem crudum, item vulvae et
propter serpentium ictus potisve pityocampis, bu-

129 presti, cantharidum aut salamandrae venenis, priva-
tim bubulum his qui Colchicum biberint aut cicutam
aut dorycnium aut leporem marinum, sicut asininum
contra gypsum et cerussam et sulpur et argentum
vivum, item durae alvo in febri. gargarizatur quoque
faucibus exulceratis, utilissime et bibitur ab imbecilli-
tate vires recolligentibus quos atrophos vocant, in
febri etiam quae careat dolore capitis. pueris ante
cibum lactis asinini heminam dari, aut si exitus cibi
rosiones sentirent, antiqui in arcanis habuerunt, si

130 hoc non esset, caprini. bubuli serum orthopnoicis
prodest ante cetera addito nasturtio. inunguntur
etiam oculi in lactis heminas additis sesamae drachmis
quattuor tritis in Hppitudine. caprino lienes sanantur,
post bidui inediam tertio die hedera pastis capris,

1 statis ego : satis lanus, Detlefsen, Mayhoff : singulis
veteres edd. : salis codd.

a With the reading singulis, " separate." With satis
(apparently) " five herainae are enough for the day3 (on whieh
it is taken).'' This is strange Latin, and exereise, or a drive,
five times a day seems excessive. It is more natural to

90

BOOK XXVIII. xxxiii. 127-130

whev itself, which is now very vinous indeed, and
cool it in the open air. But the most efficacious way
to drink it is a hemina at a time at intervals, five
heminae in all on fixed a days ; it is better to take a
drive afterwards. It is given for epilepsy, melancholia,
paralysis, leprous sores, leprosy, and diseases of the
joints. Milk is also injected for smarting caused by
purges, or, for the smarting of dysentery, milk boiled
down with b sea pebbles or with barley gruel. For
smarting intestines also cow's milk or sheep's is the
more effective. Fresh milk too is injected for
dysentery, and raw milk for colitis, uterus trouble,
snake bite, swallowing pine-caterpillars, buprestis,
the poison of Spanish fly c or salamander, and cow's
milk is specific when there has been taken in drink
Colchicum, hemlock, dorycnium, or sea hare, as ass's
milk is for gypsum, white lead, sulphur, quicksilver,
and constipation iii fever. It also makes a very
useful gargle for ulcerated throats, is drank by con-
valescents from weakening illness, said to be " in a
decline,"^ and also for fever which is without head-
ache. To give to children before food a hemina of
ass's milk, or failing that of goat's milk, and if the
rectum smarted at stool, the ancients held to be one
of their secrets. Better for orthopnoea than other
remedies is whey of cow's milk with the addition of
cress. The eyes also are bathed for ophthalmia with
a hemina of milk to which have been added four
drachmae of pounded sesame. Splenic diseases are
cured by drinking goat's milk for three days without

suppose that five doses were to be taken in all, each on a fixed
day, to be folknved by a ride or drive. Cf. statas febres § 107.

6 This cum is perhaps an interpolation (dittographv), but
cf. § 124.

c See note on § 160. d Or: "undernourished."'

91

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

per triduum poto sine alio cibo. lactis usus alias
contrarius capitis doloribus, hepaticis, splenicis, ner-
vorum vitio, febres habentibus, vertigini, praeter-
quam purgationis gratia, gravedini, tussientibus,
lippis. ovillum1 utilissimum tenesmo, dysinteriae nec
non phthisicis. hoc et mulieribus 2 saluberrimum qui
dicerent fuerunt.

131 XXXIV. De generibus caseorum diximus, cum de
uberibus singulisque membris animalium diceremus.
Sextius eosdem effectus equino quos bubulo tradit.
hunc vocant hippacen. stomacho utiles qui non sunt
salsi, id est recentes. veteres alvum sistunt corp-
usque minuunt, stomacho inutiliores 3 ; et in totum

132 salsa minuunt corpus, alunt mollia. caseus recens
cum melle suggillata emendat, mollis alvum sistit,
sedat tormina pastillis in vino austero decoctis rur-
susque in patina tostis cum melle. saprum vocant
qui cum sale et sorbis siccis e vino tritus potusque
medetur coeliacis, genitalium carbunculis caprinus
tritus inpositus. item acidus cum oxymelite maculis
in balineo inlitus oleo interlinitur.

133 XXXV. E lacte fit et butyrum, barbararum gen-
tium lautissimus cibus et qui divites a plebe dis-
cernat, plurimum e bubulo, et inde nomen, pinguissi-

1 ovillum Hard., Mayhoff, ex Dioscoride : suillum codd.,
Detlefsen.

2 mulieribus dTx, Detlefsen : mulieres VRf : mulieris May-
hoff, qui etiam post dysinteriae dist.

3 inutiliores Urlichs, Detlefsen, Mayhoff : utiliores codd.

a With MayhofFs reading and punctuation : " this and
woman's milk are the most wholesome for consumptives."
» Book XI. § 240.
c See note on § 120.

92

BOOK XXVIII. xxxiii. 130-xxxv. 133

any other food, but the goats must fast for two days
and then browse on ivy the third day. Drinking
milk is generally bad for headache, complaints of the
liver, spleen and sinews, for fevers, for giddiness
except as a purge, and for a heavy cold, cough,
and ophthalmia. Sheep's milk is very beneficial for
tenesmus, dysentery, and consumption ; there have
been some who said that this milk is also the most
wholesome for women.a

XXXIV. The kinds of cheese I discussed when
speaking of udders and the separate parts of animals.b
Sextius c gives to eow's-milk cheese the same proper-
ties as he gives to that from mare's milk, which is
called hippace.d Beneficial to the stomach are those
not salted, that is to say the fresh. Old cheeses bind
the bowels and reduce flesh, being rather bad for the
stomach ; on the whole salty foods reduce flesh, soft
foods make it. Fresh cheese with honey heals
bruises, a soft cheese binds the bowels, and relieves
gripes if lozenges of it are boiled in a dry wine and
then roasted in a pan with honey. Coeliac affections
are cured by the cheese that they call saprum,e taken
in drink after being pounded in wine with salt and
dried sorb apples ; carbuncles of the genitals by an
application of pounded goat's-milk cheese. Sour
cheese also with oxymel is applied in the bath alter-
nately with oil to remove spots.

XXXV. From milk is also made butter, among Butter.
barbarian tribes accounted the choicest food, one
that distinguishes the rich from the lower orders.
Mostly cow's milk is used (hence the name-Q, but

d See note on XXV. § 83. f
e That is, " rotten " {aa-npov).
S The word means " cow cheese."

93

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

mum ex ovillo x — fit et ex caprino — sed hieme cale-
facto lacte, aestate expresso tantum crebro iactatu
in longis vasis, angusto foramine spiritum accipienti-
bus sub 2 ipso ore alias praeligato. additur paululum

134 aquae ut acescat. quod est maxime coactum in
summo fluitat, id exemptum addito sale oxygala
appellant. relicum decocunt in ollis. ibi quod
supernatat butyrum est oleosum natura. quo magis
virus resipit hoc praestantius iudicatur. pluribus
conpositionibus miscetur inveteratum. natura eius
adstringere, mollire, replere, purgare.

135 XXXVI. Oxygala fit et alio modo, acido lacte
addito in recens quod velis 3 inacescere, utilissimum
stomacho. effectus dicemus suis locis.

XXXVII. Proxima in communibus adipi laus est,
sed maxime suillo, apud antiquos etiam religiosius.
certe novae nuptae intrantes etiamnum 4 sollemne
habent postes eo attingere. inveteratur duobus

136 modis, cum sale aut sincerus, tanto fit utilior.5 axun-
giam Graeci etiam appellavere eam in voluminibus
suis. neque est occulta virium causa, quoniam id
animal herbarum radicibus vescitur — itaque etiam

1 ovillo coni. Mayhoff : ovibus codd.

2 sub omittere velit Mayhoff.

3 velis Detlefsen : velint Mayhoff : inm VR : in dx :
ve - - - r : dum (acescit) vulg. Mayhoff nonnulla verba, ut
quodve aliud cogat, excidisse putat.

4 etiamnum codd. : etiam nunc Mayhoff.

5 tanto fit utilior Mayhoff : tanto utilior quanto sit vetu-
stior Detlefsen. Pro utifior multi codd. vetustior (vectior R),
pro fit (dx) sit VR.

a It has been suggested that for aqua we should read aceto
(vinegar).

b If we omit all from exemptum to supernatat, the ancient
method of making butter is much like the modern, but then

94

BOOK XXVIII. xxxv. 133-xxxvn. 136

the richest comes from sheep's — it is also made from
goat's — but in winter the milk is warmed, while in
summer the butter is extracted merely by shaking it
rapidly in a tall vessel. This has a small hole to
admit the air, made just under the mouth, which is
otherwise completely stopped. There is added a
little water a to make the milk turn sour. The part
that curdles most, floating on the top, [is skimmed
off, and with salt added is called oxygala ; the rest
they boil down in pots. What comes to the surface 6]
is butter, a fatty substance. The stronger the taste,
the more highly is butter esteemed. When matured
it is used as an ingredient for several mixtures. It is
bv nature astringent, emollient, flesh-forming, and
cleansing.

XXXVI. Oxygala is made in yet another way, by Oxygiia.
adding sour milk to the fresh that it is wished to turn
sour. It is very good for the stomach ; of its proper-

ties I shall speak in the appropriate places.

XXXVII. Of remedies common to animals the Fais,
next in repute is fat, especially pig's fat, which to the ofpigs.
men of old was not a little sacred. At any rate
brides even today touch ritually the door-posts with

it on entering their homes. Lard is matured in two
ways, with salt or by itself ; it is so much the more
beneficial when matured. The name axungia (axle-
grease) is the one adopted by the Greeks also in
their writings. Xor is the cause of its properties
a mystery, for the pig feeds on the roots of plants,
so that there are very many uses even for its dung.

oxygala disappears, which is required because of Ch. XXXVI,
and the interpolation needs to be explained. It is perhaps
safer with J. Miiller to regard addito . . . relicum as a
parenthesis.

95

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

fimo innumeri usus — quamobrem non de alia loque-
mur quam e sue.1 multo efficacior e femina est quae
non peperit, [multo vero praestantior in apris.] 2 est
igitur usus axungiae ad emollienda, excalfacienda,

137 discutienda purgandaque. medicorum aliqui ad-
mixto anseris adipe taurorumque sebo et oesypo ad
podagras uti iubent, si vero permanet dolor, cum cera,
myrto, resina, pice. sincera axungia medetur
ambustis vel nive, pernionibus autem cum hordci
cinere et galla pari modo. prodest et confricatis
membris, itinerumque lassitudines et fatigationes
levat. ad tussim veterem recens decoquitur quad-
rantis pondere in vini cyathis tribus addito melle.

138 vetus etiam phthisis pilulis sumpta sanat quae sine
sale inveterata est. omnino enim non nisi ad ea quae
purganda sint aut quae non sint exulcerata salsa reci-
pitur. quidam quadrantes axungiae et mulsi 3 in
vini cyathis ternis decocunt contra phthisis, quarto
quoque die picem liquidam in ovo sumi iubent, cir-
cumligatur et lateribus pectoribus scapulis eorum qui
phthisim sentiunt, tantaque est vis ut genibus etiam
adalligata redeat in os sapor eamque expuere

1 quam e sue Urlichs, Detlefsen : sue codd. : uncos ponit
Mayhojf.

2 Uncos ego posui. In textu esse dicitur Mayhoff, qui etiam
intellegitur coni. : est igitur codd.

3 mulsi vulg., Detlefsen, Mayhoff; multis codd.

° The emendation of Urlichs seems to be the best solution
of the difficulty presented by the MS. reading.

6 If we bracket, as being a scribe's or commentator's note,
from multo to apris, there is no need further to emend this
sentence.

96

BOOK XXVIII. xxxvn. 136-138

Therefore I shall not speak of other grease than that
of the pig.a By far the more beneficial is that from a
sow that has not littered, [but much more excellent
is that of boars.bJ Axle-grease then is used for
softening, warming, dispersing, and cleansing. Cer-
tain medical men recommend for gout a mixture of it
with goose grease, bull suet and suint ; if however
the pain should persist, they add wax, myrtle berries,
resin, and pitch. Unsalted axle-grease is good for
burns or frost-bite ; for chilblains add equal measures
of barley-ash and gall nuts. It is also beneficial for
chafed limbs, and relieves weariness and fatigue from
a journey. Fresh axle-grease, three ounces in three
cyathi of wine with honey added, is boiled down for
chronic cough. Old grease taken in pills cures even
consumption, but it must have matured without salt.
for salt grease is not recommended at all except where
cleansing is required and where there is no ulceration.
Some boil down three ounces of axle-grease and
of honey wine in three cyathi of wine to treat con-
sumption, recommending that 011 every fourth day
liquid pitch should be taken in egg. Poultices of it
are applied to the sides, chest, and shoulders of con-
sumptive patients, and so great is its power that even
when fastened to the knees as an amulet the taste
comes back c to the mouth and they seem to be spit-
ting it out. Fat from a sow that has not littered is used
with very great advantage by women as a cosmetic,
but for itch any kind d is good, mixed with a third part

e In the context redeat is strange. May it mean : " comes
to its natural place " ?

d With quivis understand adeps and a verb like medetur.
So Littre : " toute espece de graisse est bonne." Perhaps,
however, it is " anybody (and not women only) can use."

97

VOL. VIII. E

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

139 videantur. e sue quae non peperit aptissime utuntur
ad cutem mulieres, contra scabiem vero quivis ad-
mixto iumentorum sebo pro parte tertia et pice, pari-
terque subfervefactis. sincera partus in abortum
vergentes nutriunt collyrii niodo subdita. cicatrices
concolores facit cerussa admixta vel argenti spuma, at
cum sulpure unguiuni scabritias emendat. medetur et
capillis rluentibus et ulceribus in capite mulierum cum
gallae parte quarta et infumata pilis oculorum.
datur et phthisicis unciatim cum vini veteris hemina
decocta donec tres unciae e toto restent, aliqui et

140 mellis exiguum adiciunt. panis inlinitur cum calce,
item furunculis duritiaeque mammarum. rupta et
convulsa et spasmata et luxata sanat, clavos et rimas
callique vitia cum helleboro albo, parotidas admixta
farina salsamentariae testae, quo genere proficit et ad
strumas. pruritus et papulas in balineo perunctis
tollit, alioque etiamnum modo podagricis prodest
mixto oleo vetere, contrito una sarcophago lapide et
quinquefolio tuso in vino vel cum calce vel cum cinere.
facit et peculiare emplastrum lxxvX ponderi centum
spumae argenteae mixtis, utilissimum contra ul-
cerum inflammationes.1 adipe verrino et inungui
putant utile, quaeque serpant inlinere cum resina.

141 antiqui axibus vehiculorum perunguendis maxime ad
faciliorem circumactum rotarum utebantur, unde
nomen, sic quoque utili medicina cum illa ferrugine

142 rotarum ad sedis vitia virilitatisque. [et per se
axungia] 2 medici antiqui maxime probabant renibus

1 Hoc punctum post verrino ponit Mayhoff.

2 Ego uncos posui ex Mayhoffii coniectura.

■ spasmata may be a gloss, for Pliny renders the Greek
andafjiaTa by convulsa.

9s

BOOK XXVIII. xxxvii. 138-142

of beef suet and pitch, all being warmed together.
Unsalted axle-grease used as a pessary nourishes the
foetus when there is the threat of a miscarriage.
Mixed with white lead or litharge lard gives to scars
the colour of the surrounding skin, and with sulphur
cleans scabrous nails. It cures too the falling-out of
hair, and with a quarter of a gall nut sores on the
head of women ; as a fumigant it is good for eye-
lashes. It is also given to consumptives, in doses of
one ounce with a hemina of old wine boiled down
until of the whole three ounces remain ; some add also
a little honey. With lime it is applied to superficial
abscesses, also to boils and to indurations of the
breasts. It cures ruptures, sprains, cramps,0 and
dislocations ; with white hellebore corns, chaps, and
callosities ; and parotid swellings with pounded
earthenware that has contained salted food, the same
being also good for scrofulous sores. Rubbing in the
bath with this fat removes irritation and pimples, and
administered in yet another way it is good for gout :
mixed with old oil, crushed sarcophagus b stone, and
cinquefoil pounded in wine, or with lime, or with ash.
A special plaster too is made of 75 denarii by weight
of lard mixed with 100 of litharge, very useful for in-
flamed ulcers. They also think it useful to treat such
sores with boar's grease, and to app]y it with
resin to those that spread. The men of old used
lard in particular for greasing the axles of their
vehicles, that the wheels might revolve more easily,
and in this way it received its name. So also with
that rust of the wheels it made a useful medicament
for aifections of the anus and of the male genitals.
The old physicians valued most the fat taken from

* See II. § 211 and XXXVI. § 161.

99

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

detractam exemptisque venis aqua caelesti fricabant
crebro decoquebantque fictili novo saepius, tum de-
mum adservantes. convenit salsam magis mollire,
excalfacere, discutere, utilioremque esse vino lotam.
Masurius palmam lupino adipi dedisse antiquos tra-
didit. ideo novas nuptas illo perunguere postes
solitas ne quid mali medicamenti inferretur.

143 XXXVIII. Quae ratio adipis eadem in his quae
ruminant sebi est, aliis modis, non minoris potentiae.
perficitur omne exemptis venis aqua marina vel salsa
lotum, mox in pila tusum aspersa marina crebro.
postea coquitur donec odor omnis aboleatur, mox
adsiduo sole ad candorem reducitur. a renibus autem

144 omne laudatissimum est. si vero vetus revocetur ad
curam, liquefieri prius iubent, mox frigida aqua
lavari saepius, dein Hquefacere adfuso vino quam
odoratissimo. eodemque modo iterum ac saepius
cocunt donec virus evanescat. multi privatim sic
taurorum leonumque ac pantherarum et camelorum
pinguia curari iubent. usus dicetur suis locis.

145 XXXIX. Communis et meduilarum est. omnes
molliunt, explent, siccant, excalfaciunt. lauda-
tissima e cervis, mox vitulina, dein hircina et caprina.
curantur ante autumnum recentes lotae siccataeque

a The last sentence is added as an afterthought ; it differs
from a similar remark in § 135. Masurius was apparently a
jurist who lived in the reign of Tiberius and later.

6 Or, "The most highly valued suet is alwavs that from
the kidnevs."

BOOK XXVIII. xxxvii. 142-xxxix. 145

the kidneys : removing the veins they rubbed it
brisklv with rain water, boiled it down several times
in new earthenware, and then finallv stored it away.
It is agreed that when salted it has increased power
of softening, warming, and dispersing, and that it is
more useful when washed with wine. Masurius tells
us that the men of old gave the palm to wolf 's fat ;
that, he said, was why new brides were wont to
smear with it the door-posts to keep out all evil
drugs.°

XXXVIII. Corresponding to fat in other animals suet.
is suet in ruminants ; used in other ways it is of no
less potency. All suet is prepared by taking out
the veins, washing in sea-water or salt water, and
then pounding in a mortar with frequent sprinklings

of sea-water. Afterwards it is boiled until all smell
disappears, and then by continual exposure to the
sun it is bleached to a shining white. All suet from
the kidneys is highly valued.5 But if stale suet is
being put to use, it is recommended first to melt
it, then wash it several times in cold water, and
then to melt it after pouring on it wine with the most
fragrant bouquet. They boil it in the same way
again and again, until all the rankness disappears.
Many recommend that in this way should be pre-
pared the fat in particular of bulls, lions, panthers,
and camels. Their use will be given in the appro-
priate places.

XXXIX. The various marrows too are all in use. Marrow.
All marrow is emollient, filling, drying, and warming.

The most highly valued is that of deer, next of calves,
and then of goats, male and female. Marrow is pre-
pared before autumn ; it should be fresh, washed,
dried in the shade, then passed melted through a

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

in umbra, per cribrum dein liquatae per lintea expri
muntur ac reponuntur in fictili locis frigidis.

146 XL. Inter omnia autem communia animalium vel
praestantissimum effectu fel est. vis eius excal-
facere, mordere, scindere, extrahere, discutere.
minorum animalium subtilius intellegitur et ideo ad
oculorum medicamenta utilius existimatur. taurino
praecipua potentia etiam in aere pelvibusque aureo
colore obducendis. omne autem curatur recens
praeligato ore lino crasso, demissum in ferventem
aquam semihora, mox siccatum sine sole atque in
melle conditum. damnatur equinum tantum inter
venena. ideo rlamini sacrorum equum tangere non
licet, cum Romae publicis sacris equus etiam im-
moletur.

147 XLI. Quin et sanguis eorum1 septicam vim habet,
item equarum, praeterquam virginum; erodit, emar-
ginat ulcera. taurinus quidem recens inter venena
est excepta Aegira. ibi enim sacerdos Terrae vati-
cinatura sanguinem tauri bibit prius quam in specus
descendat. tantum potest sympathia illa de qua
loquimur, ut aliquando religione aut loco fiat.

148 Drusus tribunus plebei traditur caprinum bibisse,
cum pallore et invidia veneni sibi dati insimulare Q.
Caepionem inimicum vellet. hircorum sanguini tanta
vis est ut ferramentorum subtilitas non aliter acrius

1 eorum codd. : equorum Warmington.

a A town in Achaia.

b See XXIV. §§ 1-3, XXIX. § 61, and Additional Note,
p. 564. See the same note for the view that bull's blood is
poison.

e Tribune of the people in 91 b.c, and murdered the same
year. He was a supporter of the Italians in their claim to
Roman citizenship.
102

BOOK XXVIII. xxxix. 145-xLi. 148

sieve, strained through a linen cloth, and then stored
away in an earthenware vessel in a cool place.

XL. But of all the parts common to animals gall GaU.
is by far the most efficacious. Its nature is warming,
pungent, dissolvent, extractive, and dispersive.
That of the smaller animals is understood to be more
delicate, and so is thought to be more useful
for eye medicaments. BulTs gall is particularlv
potent, staining even bronze and basins with a golden
colour. All gall is prepared when fresh by tying
with stout thread the mouth of the gall bladder,
steeping it for half an hour in boiling water, then
drving it out of the sun, and storing awav in honey.
That of horses alone is condemned as a poison.
Therefore the sacrincial flamen is not allowed to
touch a horse, although at the public sacriflces at
Rome a horse is even oifered as a victim.

XLI. Moreover the blood of horses has a corrosive Blom
power ; the blood of mares also, except that of virgin
animals. It cleans out ulcers and eats away their
lips. Fresh bull's blood indeed is reckoned one of the
poisons, except at Aegira.a For there the priestess
of Earth, when about to prophesy, drinks bull's blood
before she goes down into the caves. So strong is
that famous sympathy b I speak of that it sometimes
becomes active under the influence of religious awe
or of a place. Drusus,c tribune of the people, is
reported to have drunk goat's blood because he
wished, by his pallor, to accuse his enemy Q. Caepio
of having poisoned him, and so to arouse hatred
against him.d So great is the power of he-goats' blood
that iron tools cannot in any other way be hardened

d Or, " to arouse hatred against his enemy Q. Caepio, his
pallor suggesting that he had been poisoned by him."

103

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

induretur, scabritia tollatur vehementius quam lima.
non igitur et sanguis animalium inter communia dici
potest et ideo suis quisque dicetur effectibus.

149 XLII. Digeremus enim in mala singula usus pluri-
mumque x contra serpentes. exitio his esse cervos
nemo ignorat ut, si quae sunt,2 extractas cavernis
mandentes. nec vero ipsi spirantesque tantum ad-
versantur, sed membratim quoque. fugari eas nidore
cornus eorum, si uratur, dictum est, at e summo gut-
ture ustis ossibus congregari dicuntur. pelles eius-
dem animalis substratae securos praestant ab eo metu

150 somnos, coagulum ex aceto potum ab ictu, et si
omnino tractatum sit, eo die non ferit serpens. testes
quoque eius inveterati vel genitale vetus 3 maris
salutariter dantur in vino, item venter quem centi-
pellionem vocant. fugiunt et omnino dentem cervi
habentes aut medulla perunctos sebove cervi aut
vituli. summis autem remediis praefertur hinnulei
coagulum matris utero execti, ut indicavimus.

151 sanguine cervino, si una urantur dracontion et cuni-
lago et anchusa lentisci ligno, contrahi serpentes
tradunt, dissipari deinde, si sanguine detracto adi-
ciatur pyrethrum. invenio apud auctores Graecos
animal cervo minus et pilo demum simile, quod

1 plurimumque codd. : primumque Pintianus, Sillig,
Mayhojj.

2 ut, si quae sunt codd. : utique spiritu Pintianus : vesti-
gantes et coni. Mayhoff: ut pi credimus Warmington.

3 vetus /. Miiller, Mayhojf : eius codd. : del. Detlefsen.

a See VIII. § 118.

b The centipellio is the second stomach of iuminating
animals.

• See VIII. §118.

104

BOOK XXVIII. xli. 148 xlii. 151

to a finer edge, and roughness is smoothed more
thoroughly by it than by a file. Accordingly blood
cannot be included among the remedies common to
animals, and so each kind of blood will be discussed
according to its effects.

XLII. For I shall arrange remedies according to Remedies
each malady, serpents' bites requiring very full {7te5.na
treatment. Nobody is unaware that deer are their
deadly enemies, in that they drag any they may
find from their holes and eat them. Xot only, how-
ever, when whole and alive are they the enemy of
serpents ; the parts of their body are so also. The
fumes from their horns when burnt, as I have said,°
keep serpents away ; but if the topmost bones of a
stag's neck have been burnt, serpents are said to
assemble. The skins of the same animal make a bed
on which one may sleep without fear of snakes, and
the rennet taken in vinegar prevents being bitten ;
if it is merely handled, in fact, on that day no serpent
strikes. A stag's testicles dried, or the dried male
organ, are in wine a salutary drink ; so is that
stomach which is called ce?itipellio.b Serpents keep
away from those who have about them merely a
stag's tooth, or have been rubbed with the marrow or
suet of stag or fawn. As I have already pointed out,c
to sovereign remedies is preferred the rennet of a
young stag cut from his mother's uterus. Stag's
blood, if with it are burnt on a lentisk-wood
fire dracontion, cunilago and anchusa, is said to
collect serpents together ; then they scatter, it is
said, if in place of blood pyrethrum is added. In mv
Greek authorities I find mentioned an animal that
they call ophion,^ smaller than a stag and like it only

* See XXX. § 146.

I05

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

ophion vocaretur, Sardiniam tantum ferre solitam.
hoc interisse arbitror et ideo medicinas ex eo omitto.

152 Apri quoque cerebrum contra eas laudatur cum
sanguine, iocur etiam inveteratum cum ruta potum
ex vino, item adips cum melle resinaque, simili modo
verrinum iocur et fellis dumtaxat fibra X mi pondere
vel cerebrum in vino potum. caprarum cornu vel
pilis accensis fugari serpentes dicunt, cineremque ex
cornu potum vel inlitum contra ictus valere, item
lactis haustus cum uva taminia vel urinae cum aceto
scillite, caseum caprinum cum origano inpositum vel
sebum cum cera. milia praeterea remediorum ex eo

153 animali demonstrantur, sicut apparebit, quod equi-
dem miror, cum febri negetur carere. amplior
potentia feris eiusdem generis, quod numerosissimum
esse diximus, alia vero et hircis. Democritus etiam-
num effectus auget eius qui singularis natus sit. fimo
quoque caprarum in aceto decocto inlini ictus ser-
pentium placet et recentis cinere in vino, atque in
totum difficilius sese recolligentes a serpentium ictu in

154 caprilibus optime convalescunt. qui efficacius volunt
mederi occisae caprae alvum dissectam cum fimo intus
reperto inligant statim. alii carnem recentem hae-
dorum cum * pilo suffiunt eodemque nidore fugant
serpentes. utuntur et pelle eorum recente ad 2

1 cum add. C. F. W. MulUr.

2 Ante ad comma transponit Mayhoff.

° This seems like a vague and inaccurate reference to the
goat as the cause of Malta fever.
6 See VIII. 214.

106

BOOK XXVIII. xlii. 151-154

in its hair, which is found nowhere save in Sardinia.
I believe that it is extinct today, and therefore I give
no remedies from it. The brain and blood of a wild
boar is another approved protection against serpents,
as is its liver preserved and taken in wine with rue,
likewise the fat with honey and resin, and given in
the same way boar's liver and the fibre only of the
gall-bladder, the dose being four denarii by weight,
or the brain taken in wine. The horn or hair of she-
goats, when burnt, is said to keep serpents away, and
the ash from the horn, wThether taken in drink or
applied, to be efficacious for their bites ; as are also
draughts of their milk with taminian grapes, or of
their urine with squill vinegar ; so too an application
of goat cheese with marjoram, or of goat suet with
wax. Thousands of remedies besides from the goat
are given in prescriptions, as will be pointed out ;
this is surprising to me, because it is said never to be
free from fever.a The potency of the wild-goat —
goats are a very numerous species, as I have said b — is
greater, but a he-goat too has a potency of its own.
Democritus also holds that if a goat is the only one
at a birth he supplies more efficacious remedies. An
application also of she-goat's dung boiled down in
vinegar is approved treatment for snake bite, and so
is the ash of fresh dung boiled down in wine ; speaking
generally, slow convalescents from snake bite recover
best in a goat's stable. Those who want more
efficacious treatment apply immediately as a plaster
a slaughtered she-goat's belly cut open, including
any dung found inside. Others fumigate with fresh
kid-meat, not taking away the hair, and with the
same fumes drive snakes away. They also use a
fresh kid-skin for the wound, or the flesh and dung

107

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

plagas, et carne et fimo equi in agro pasti, coagulo
leporis ex aceto, contraque scorpionem et murem
araneum. aiunt non feriri leporis coagulo perunctos.

155 a scorpione pcrcussis fimum caprae efficacius cum
aceto decoctum auxiliatur, lardum iusque decocti
potum et his qui buprestim hauserint. quin etiam si
quis asino in aurem percussum a scorpione se dicat,
transire malum protinus tradunt, venenataque omnia
accenso pulmone eius fugere. et fimo vituli suffiri
percussos a scorpione prodest.

156 XLIII. Canis rabiosi morsu facta volnera circum-
cidunt ad vivas usque partes quidam carnemque
vituli admovent — et ius ex eodem carnis decoctae
dant potui x — aut axungiam cum calce tusam, hirci
iocur, quo inposito ne temptari quidem aquae metu
adfirmant. laudant et caprae fimum ex vino in-
litum, melis et cuculi et hirundinis decoctum et
potum. ad reliquos bestiarum morsus caprinum
caseum siccum cum origano inponunt et bibi iubent,
ad hominis morsus carnem bubulam coctam, efficacius
vituli, si non ante quintum diem solvant.

157 XLIV. Veneficiis rostrum lupi resistere invetera-
tum aiunt ob idque villarum portis praefigunt. hoc
idem praestare et pellis e cervice solida manica existi-
matur, quippe tanta vis est animalis praeter ea quae
retulimus ut vestigia eius calcata equis adferant
torporem.

1 Parenthesim ego indicavi.

a It eases the construction to take from et ius to potui as a
parenthesis, a common feature of Pliny's style.

108

BOOK XXVIII. xlii. 154-xLiv. 157

of a horse fed by pasture and the rennet of a hare in
vinegar ; the same for scorpions and the shrew-mouse.
It is said that rubbing with hare's rennet protects
from being stung or bitten. Those stung bv a
scorpion are helped by she-goat's dung, more emcaci-
ouslv if it is boiled down in vinegar ; the fat and broth
of the decoction, if drunk, helps those too who have
swallowed a buprestis. Moreover, if anyone says in
the ear of an ass that he has been stung by a scorpion,
the mischief, it is said, at once passes over into the
animal, all venomous creatures run away from an
ass's burning lung, and those stung by a scorpion
are benefited by fumigation with the dung of a
ealf.

XLIII. Wounds made by the bite of a mad dog Remedies
some cut round into the quick and apptv veal, forbitesof

, ^- rr j ' mad dogs.

giving to drink veal broth,° or else axle-grease
pounded with lime, or he-goat's liver, an application
of which is said to keep off entirely the dread of water.
Approved treatment is also she-goat's dung applied
in wrine, and to drink a decoction of the dung of
badger, cuckoo and swallow. For the other beast-bites
dried goat's cheese with marjoram is applied and re-
commended to be taken in drink ; to human bites
is applied boiled beef, boiled veal being more
efficacious, if it is not taken off before the fifth day.

XLIV. Sorceries are said to be counteracted by a sorcenes.
wolfs preserved muzzle, and for this reason they
hang one up on the gates of country houses. The
same effect is supposed to be given by the whole fur
from a wolf 's neck, the legs included, for so great is
the power of the animal that, besides what I have
already stated, his footprints when trodden on by
horses make them torpid.

109

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

158 XLV. Iis qui argentum vivuui biberint lardum
remedio est. asinino lacte poto venena restinguntur,
peculiariter si hyoscyamum potum sit aut viscum aut
cicuta aut lepus marinus aut opocarpatum aut phari-
cum x aut dorycnium et si coagulum alicui nocuerit,
nam id quoque venenum est in prima lactis coagula-
tione. multos et alios usus eius dicemus, sed memi-
nisse oportebit recenti utendum aut non multo postea
tepefacto, nullum enim celerius evanescit. ossa quo-
que asini confracta et decocta contra leporis marini
venenum dantur. omnia eadem onagris efficaciora.

159 de equiferis non scripserunt Graeci, quoniam terrae
illae non gignebant, verum tamen fortiora omnia
eadem quam in equis intellegi debent. lacte equino
venena leporis marini et toxica expugnantur. nec
uros aut bisontes habuerunt Graeci in experimentis,
quamquam bove fero refertis Indiae silvis, portione
tamen eadem efficaciora omnia ex his credi par est.

160 sic quoque lacte bubulo cuncta venena expugnari
tradunt, maxime supra dicta et si ephemerum inpac-
tum sit aut si cantharides datae, omnia vomitione
egeri, sic et caprino iure cantharidas. contra ea vero
quae exulceratione enecant sebum vitulinum vel
bubulum auxiliatur. nam contra sanguisugas potas
butyrum remedio est cum aceto ferro calefacto, quod
et per se prodest contra venena. nam si oleum non

1 pharicum Hermolaus Barbarus ; cf. Scribonius Largus
CXCV: agaricum Detlefsen: cerussa Mayhoff: carice V:
tarice R: caryced.

a Unknown.

6 See Scribonius Largus CXCV.

« Ephemerum was used in a mouth-wash, and so very
liable to be swallowed by accident. The word inpaclum is
curious, and probably corrupt, but the sense is clear.

no

BOOK XXVIII. xlv. 158-160

XLV. Those who have swallowed quicksilver find Remedies
a remedy in lard. By drinking ass's milk poisons are f°r "P0lS0ns-
neutralized, especially if henbane has been swallowed,
or mistletoe, hemlock, sea-hare, opocarpathum,"
pharicum,6 dorycnium, or if milk has done harm by
curdling, for there is poison in the first coagulation
of it. I shall give many other uses of ass's milk, but
it should be remembered to use it when fresh, or
nearly fresh and warmed, for no milk loses its power
more rapidly. The bones too of the ass, crushed and
boiled, are given for the poison of the sea-hare. AU
these remedies are more efficacious from the wild
ass. About wild horses the Greeks have not wrritten,
because Greek lands did not breed them, but it must
be inferred that all remedies from them are more
potent than from the tame animal. By mare's milk
are neutralized the poison of the sea-hare and arrow
poisons. The Greeks had not the urus or the bison
to try out, although the Indian jungles swarm with
wild cattle. All the same remedies from them,
however, it is reasonable to believe, are proportion-
ally more efficacious. So cow's milk too is said to
neutralize all poisons, especially those mentioned
before, and if ephemerum has gone down the throat c
or Spanish fly d administered, and to expel by vomiting
all the noxious substances ; goat broth also to act in the
same wray on Spanish fly. Those poisons however
that cause fatal ulceration are relieved by veal-suet
or beef-suet. But for leeches swallowed in drink
butter, with vinegar warmed by hot iron, is a remedy,
butter even by itself being beneficial against poison-
ing, for if one has no oil butter is a good substitute.

d For an interesting account of Spanish fly, really a kind
of beetle, see W. T. Fernie, Animal Simples, pp. 176-180.

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

161 sit. vicem eius repraesentat. multipedae morsus cum

melle sanat. omasi quoque iure poto venena supra
dicta expugnari putant, privatim vero aconita et cicu-
tas, itemque vitulino sebo. caprinus caseus recens
his qui viscum biberint, lac contra cantharidas
remedio est et contra ephemeri potum cum taminia
uva. sanguis caprinus decoctus cum medulla contra
toxiea venena sumitur, haedinus contra reliqua,

162 coagulum haedi contra viscum et chamaeleonem
album sanguinemque taurinum, contra quem et
leporis coagulum est ex aceto, contra pastinacam vero
et omnium marinorum ictus vel morsus coagulum
leporis vel haedi vel agni drachmae pondere ex vino.
leporis coagulum et contra venena additur antidotis.
papilio quoque lucernarum luminibus advolans inter
mala medicamenta numeratur. huic contrarium est
iocur caprinum, sicut fel veneficis ex mustella rustica
factis. hinc deinde praevertemur ad genera mor-
borum.

163 XLYI. Capilli deHuvia ursinus adips admixto
ladano et adianto continet alopeciasque emendat et
raritatem superciliorum cum fungis lucernarum ac
fuligine quae est in rostris earum, porriginem cum
vino. prodest ad hanc et cornus cervini cinis e vino,
utque non taedia animalium capillis increscant, item
fel caprinum cum creta Cimolia et aceto sic uti paulum
capiti inarescant, item fel scrofinum, urina tauri. si
vero vetus sit, furfures etiam adiecto sulpure emen-

164 dat. cinere genitalis asini spissari capillum putant et
a canitie vindicari, si rasis inlinatur plumboque tritus

0 See Book XXVI. § 47, and for the plants mentioned in
thi.s section of Pliny the Index of Plants in vol. VII.

112

BOOK XXVIII. xlv. i6o-xlvi. 164

It and honey together cure tlie bites of millipedes.
Tripe broth and also veal suet are thought to neutral-
ize the poisons mentioned above, especially hovvever
aconite and hemlock. Fresh goat-cheese is a remedy
for those who have taken mistletoe in drink, as is
goat's milk for Spanish fly, and with Taminian grapes
for swallowing ephemerum. Goat's blood boiled
with the marrow is taken for arrow poison, kid's for
the other poisons, kid's rennet for mistletoe, white
chamaeleon and bull's blood, for which another
remedy is hare's rennet in vinegar ; for the sting-ray
however, andfor the stings or bites of all sea creatures,
hare's rennet or that of a kid or lamb, the dose being
a drachma by weight in wine. Hare's rennet is also
an ingredient of antidotes against poisons. The
moth too that flutters to the lamp-light is counted
among noxious drugs ; an antidote is goat's liver, as
is its gall for sorcerer's potions made from the field
weasel. At this point I shall return to the various
kinds of diseases.

XLVI. Bear's grease mixed with ladanum ° and
adiantum prevents the hair from falling out, and
cures mange, and scanty eyebrows, if mixed with the
lamp-black from lamp wicks and the soot that
collects in their nozzles. Mixed with wine it cures
dandruff. Good too for the last is the ash of deer's
horn in wine, good also to prevent vermin from
breeding in the hair, likewise goat's gall with
Cimolian chalk and vinegar, the mixture being allowed
to dry a little on the head ; sow's gall too, and the urine
of a bull. If indeed it should be old, with the addition For com-
of sulphur it also cures dandruff. It is thought that ^aintsofthe

•*■ " SCQ.lT} €tC

a thicker growth of hair and prevention of greyness
are given by an ass's genital organ reduced to ash ;

113

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

cum oleo, densari et asinini pulli illitum * urina ; ad-
miscent nardum fastidii gratia. alopecias felle
taurino cum Aegyptio alumine tepefactis inlinunt.
ulcera capitis manantia urina tauri efficaciter sanat,
item hominis vetus, si cyclaminum adiciatur et sulpur,
efficacius tamen vitulinum fel, quo cum aceto cale-

165 facto et lendes tolluntur. sebum vitulinum capitis
ulceribus cum sale tritum utilissimum. laudatur et
vulpium adips, sed praecipue felium fimum cum
sinapis pari modo inlitum, caprini cornus farina vel
cinis, magisque hircini, addito nitro et tamaricis
semine et butyro oleoque, prius capite raso ; mire
continent ita fluentem capillum, sicuti carnis cinere

166 ex oleo inlita supercilia nigrescunt. lacte caprino
lendes tolli tradunt,fimo cum melle2 alopecias expleri,
item ungularum cinere cum pice. fluentem capillum
continet leporinus cinis cum oleo myrteo. capitis
dolorem sedat pota aqua quae relicta est e bovis aut
asini potu et, si credimus, vulpis masculae genitale
circumligatum, cornus cervini cinis inlitus ex aceto
aut rosaceo aut ex irino.

167 XLVII. Oculorum epiphoras bubulo sebo cum oleo
cocto inlinunt. cervini cornus cinere scabritias ex
eodem 3 inunguunt, mucrones autem ipsos efficaciores
putant. lupi excrementis circumlini suffusiones

1 illitum Mayhoff : cum codd. : del. Detlefsen.

2 melle] Coni. oleo e Dioscoride Mayhoff.

3 ex eodem Mayhoff : eorundem Hard., Detlefsen : eodem
multi codd., vulg.

a The reading of Mayhoff is plausible and has been adopted,
but the reading of the MSS., although there is a violent
omission of several words understood from the preceding
sentence, makes sense : " [the same part] of an ass's foal with
his urine, also thickens the hair."

114

BOOK XXVIII. xlvi. 164-xLvii. 167

this should be pounded with oil in a leaden mortar,
and applied after shaving the head. They also think
that thicker hair is encouraged by applying a the
urine of a young ass. Nard is mixed with it because
of its nastiness. For mange is applied warmed
bull's gall with Egyptian alum. Running sores 011
the head are healed efficaciously by bull's urine,
also by stale human urine with the addition of
cyclamen and sulphur, more efficaciously however by
the gall of a calf, which warmed with vinegar also
removes nits. For sores on the head calf's suet
pounded with salt is very usetul. Fox fat is also
recommended, but especially cats' dung applied with
an equal quantity of mustard ; goat's horn,
ground to powder or reduced to ash, a he-goat's
being better, with the addition of soda, tamarisk seed,
butter, and oil, the head being first shaved ; this treat-
ment is wonderful for preventing loss of hair, just
as goat's meat, reduced to ash and applied with
oil, darkens the eyebrows. Goat's milk is said to
remove nits, the dung with honey to replace hair lost
by mange, likewise the hoofs reduced to ash and
added to pitch. Hare's flesh reduced to ash, with
oil of myrtle, prevents hair from falling out. Head-
ache is relieved by drinking the water left after an
ox or ass has drunk, and also, if we care to believe it,
by the genital organ of a male fox fastened round the
head, and by a deer's horn reduced to ashes and applied
in vinegar, rose oil, or iris oil.

XLVII. To eye fluxes is applied beef suet boiled Forcom-
with oil ; scabrous eyes are smeared with the same and lyael"ts
deer's horn reduced to ash, but the tips by them-
selves are thought to be more efficacious. Cataract is
benented by applying round the eyes the excrement of

**"5

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

prodest, cinere eorum cum Attico melle inungui
obscuritates, item felle ursino, epinyctidas adipe
apruno cum rosaceo. ungulae asininae cinis inunctus
e suo lacte oculorum cicatrices et albugines tollit.

168 medulla bubula e dextro crure priore trita cum
fuligine pilis et palpebrarum vitiis angulorumque
occurrit, calliblephari modo fuligo in hoc usu tem-
peratur, optime ellychnio papyracio oleoque sesa-
mino, fuligine in novum vas pinnis detersa, effica-
cissime tamen evolsos ibi pilos coercet. felle tauri
cum ovi albo collyria fiunt, aquaque dissoluta inun-

169 gunt per quadriduum. sebum vituli cum anseris
adipe et ocimi suco genarum vitiis aptissimum est.
eiusdem medullae cum pari pondere cerae et olei vel
rosacei addito ovo duritiae genarum inlinuntur.
caseo molli caprino inposito ex aqua calida epiphorae
sedantur, si tumor sit, ex melle ; utrumque sero calido
fovendum. sicca lippitudo lumbulis suum exustis

170 atque contritis et inpositis tollitur. capras negant
lippire, quoniam quasdam herbas edint, item dor-
cadas ; ob id fimum earum cera circumdatum nova
luna devorari iubent. et quoniam noctu aeque x
cernant, sanguine hircino lusciosos sanari putant
nyetalopas a Graecis dictos, caprae vero iocinere in
vino austero decocto. quidam inassati iocineris sanie
inungunt aut felle caprae, carnesque vesci eas et,

1 aeque Dellefsen : quoque aeque Mayhoff : aeque quoque
plerique codd. : quoque r.

0 For these see List of Diseases.

* A possible reason for renioving the eyelashes and for pre-
venting their regrowth is revealed in § 171.
e A cosmetic for the eyebrows.

n6

BOOK XXVIII. xlvii. 167-170

a wolf, dimness by smearing them with its ash and
Attic honey, also with bear's gall, and epinyctis a with
wild boar's fat and rose oil. The ash of an ass's hoof
smeared on the eyes with the same ass's milk removes
scars and albugo. The marrow from the right front
leg of an ox, pounded and added to soot, combats b
eyelashes, affections of the eyelids and of the corners
of the eyes (the soot for this purpose is prepared as
for a calliblepharum,c best from a papyrus wick and
sesame oil, the soot being wiped off with feathers into
a new vessel), very efficiently however it prevents the
hairs once pulled out there from growing again.
From the gall of a bull with white of egg are made
eye-salves, and dissolved in water they are applied
for four successive days. Calf suet with goose-grease
and juice of ocimum is very good for affections of the
eye-lids. Calf marrow, with equal weights of wax
and of oil or rose-oil, with an egg added, is applied to
indurations of the eye-lids. Eyefluxes arerelieved by
an application in warm water of soft cheese made from
goat's milk, or, if there is swelling, in honey ; in both
cases there should be fomentation with warm whey.
Dry ophthalmia is cured by taking the small loins of
pork, burning, pounding, and then placing them on
the eyes. She-goats are said never to suffer from
ophthalmia, because of certain herbs they eat, and
likewise gazelles ; for this reason it is recommended
that at the new moon their dung should be swallowed,
coated with wax. Since they see equally well at
night, it is thought that those who have no night
vision (the Greeks call them nyctalopes) are cured
by the blood of a he-goat, but also by the liver of a
she-goat boiled down in a dry wine. Some smear
the eyes with the gravy from a she-goat's roasted

117

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

dum coquantur, oculos vaporari his praecipiunt. id
quoque referre arbitrantur ut rutili coloris fuerint.

171 volunt et suffiri oculos iocinere in ollis decocto, qui-
dam inassato. fel quidem caprinum pluribus modis
adsumunt, cum melle contra caligines, cum veratri
candidi tertia parte contra glaucomata, cum vino
contra cicatrices et albugines et caligines et pterygia
et argema, ad palpebras vero evolso prius pilo cum

172 suco oleris ita ut unctio inarescat, contra ruptas tuni-
culas cum lacte mulieris. ad omnia inveteratum fel
efficacius putant, nec abdicant fimum ex melle in-
litum epiphoris, contraque dolores medullam, item
pulmonem leporis, et ad caligines fel cum passo aut
melle. lupino quoque adipe vel medulla suum
fricari oculos contra lippitudines praecipiunt. nam
vulpinam linguam habentes in armilla lippituros
negant.

173 XLVIII. Aurium dolori et vitiis medentur urina
apri in vitreo servata, fel apri vel suis vel bubulum cum
oleo citreo * et rosaceo aequis portionibus, praecipue
vero taurinum cum porri suco tepidum vel cum melle,
si suppuret,2 contraque odorem gravem per se tepe-
factum in malicorio. rupta in ea parte cum lacte

174 mulierum efficaciter sanat. quidam etiam in gravi-
tate aures sic perluendas putant, alii cum senecta
serpentium et aceto — includunt lana — collutas ante

1 citreo codd., Detlefsen : cedrino Mayhoff e Marcello :
citrino f : cicino Caesarius.

2 suppuret dxr, Detlefsen : supperet VR : suppurent
Mayhoff, vulg.

a For these see List of Diseases.

h With Mayhoffs reading : " cedar.'

BOOK XXVIII. xlvii. 170-xLvm. 174

liver, or with its gall ; they prescribe its meat as a
food, and fumigation of the eyes with the steam that
arises from the cooking ; they also consider it import-
ant for the animal to have been of a red colour. They
also wish the eyes to be fumigated with the steam of
the liver boiled in a clay pot ; some say that it should
be roasted. The gall indeed of goats is employed
in many ways ; with honey for dimness ; with a
third part of white hellebore for opaqueness of
the lens ; with wine for scars, albugo,a dimness,
pterygia,a and argema a ; but with cabbage juice for
affections of the eyelids, the hairs being first pulled
out, and the application being left to dry ; with
human milk for rupture of the eye-coats. For all
purposes preserved gall is thought to be more effica-
cious. Goat's dung with honey is a not unvalued
ointment for eye fluxes, or the marrow for eye
pains, or a hare's lung, and for dimness its gall
with raisin wine or honey. Wolfs fat also or pig's
marrow is prescribed as an ointment for ophthalmia.
But it is said that those who carry a fox's tongue in
a bracelet will never suffer from ophthalmia.

XLVIII. Pain in the ears and ear affections are Fot com-
cured by the urine of a wild boar kept in a glass farl"fe '
vessel, by the gall of a wild boar, pig, or ox, with
citrus b oil and rose oil in equal proportions, but best
of all by warm bull's gall with leek juice, or with
honey should there be suppuration, and for foul odour
the gall by itself warmed in a pomegranate rind.
Ruptures in this region are thoroughly healed by the
gall with woman's milk. Some hold that for hard-
ness of hearing also the ears should be rinsed out with
this wash, others add serpents' slough and vinegar
(they insert the mixture on wool), the ears being

119

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

catida aqua aut, si maior sit gravitas, taurinum x fel
cum murra et ruta in malicorio excalfactum infundunt,
lardum quoque pingue ; item fimum asini recens cum
rosaceo instillatur, omnia tepefacta. utilior equi
spuma vel equini fimi recentis cinis cum rosaceo,
butyrum recens, sebum bubulum cum adipe anserino,
urina caprae vel tauri aut fullonia vetus, calfacta

175 vapore per lagoenae collum subeunte — admiscent
aceti tertiam partem et aliquid murrae — vituli qui
nondum herbam gustaverit fimum mixto felle eiusdem
et cute2 quam relincunt angues, excalefactis prius
auribus ; lana autem medicamina ea includuntur.
prodest et sebum vituli cum anseris adipe et ocimi
suco, eiusdem medulla admixto cumino trito infusa,
virus verrinum e scrofa exceptum priusquam terram

176 attingat contra dolores, auribus fractis glutinum e
naturis vitulorum factum et in aqua liquatum ; aliis
vitiis adips vulpium, item fel caprinum cum rosaceo
tepido aut porri suco aut, si rupta sint aliqua ibi, e
lacte mulieris ; si gravitas audiendi, fel bubulum cum
urina caprae vel hirci, vel si pus sit. in quocumque
autem usu putant esse efficaciora haec in cornu

177 caprino per dies viginti infumata. laudant et coagu-
lum leporis tertia denarii parte ex dimidiaque saco-
penii in Ammineo vino. parotidas ursinus adips con-
primit pari pondere cerae et taurini sebi — addunt
quidam hypocisthidem — 3 et per se butyrum inlitum,

1 taurinum Urlichs, Detlefsen : verrinum Mayhoff e Mar-
cello : aurium codd., vulg.

2 cute d x Mayhoff : cutem multi codd., Detlefsen.

3 Sic dist. Mayhoff.

" With MayhofTs reading : " hog's."

b Perhaps " taken out of " (Warmington).

120

BOOK XXVIII. xlmii. 174-177

first rinsed with warm water, or, if the hardness of
hearing amounts to deafness, they pour in bull's gall °
with myrrh and rue warmed in pomegranate rind,
also fat bacon ; or fresh ass's dung with rose oil is
inserted in drops, all being warmed. More useful is
the foam of a horse, or fresh horse-dung reduced to
asli and mixed with rose-oil, fresh butter, beef suet
with goose grease, she-goat's or bull's urine, or that
used by fullers, stale, and warmed until the steam
rises up the neck of the jar (a third part of vinegar is
added and little myrrh), the dung, mixed with the
gall, of a calf that has not tasted grass added to the
slough of snakes, the ears being first warmed ; these
medicaments are inserted into the ears on wool.
Beneficial is also veal suet, with goose grease and
juice of ocimum; the marrow of a calf mixed with
pounded cummin and poured into the ear ; and for
ear pains the seminal fluid of a hog, caught b as it
drips from a sow before it can touch the ground ; for
fractures of the ears the glue made from the genitals
of calves and melted in water ; for other afFections
the fat of foxes, goat's gall with warm rose-oil or with
leek juice, or, if any part of the ear has been ruptured,
with woman's milk ; if there is hardness of hearing,
ox gall with the urine of a goat, male or female, or if
there is pus. But whatever the use may be, it is
thought that these remedies are more efficacious if
they are smoke-dried for twenty days in a goat's horn.
Another approved treatment is a third of a denarius
of hare's rennet and half a denarius of sacopenium in
Amminean wine. Parotid swellings are reduced by
bear's grease with an equal weight of wax and bull suet
(some add hypocisthis), and an application of butter
by itself after previous fomentation with a decoction

121

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

si prius foveantur feni Graeci decocti suco, efficacius
cum strychno. prosunt et vulpium testes et taurinus
sanguis aridus tritus, urina caprae calefacta instillata
auribus, fimum eiusdem cum axungia inlitum.

178 XLIX. Dentes mobiles confirmat cervini cornus
cinis doloresque eorum mitigat, sive infricentur sive
colluantur. quidam efficaciorem ad omnes eosdem
usus crudi cornus farinam arbitrantur. dentifricia
utroque modo fiunt. magnum remedium est et in
luporum capitis cinere. certum est in excrementis
eorum plerumque inveniri ossa ; haec adalligata eun-
dem eifectum habent, item leporina coagula per
aurem infusa contra dolores. et capitis eorum cinis
dentifricium est adiectoque nardo mulcet graveo-

179 lentiam oris. aliqui murinorum capitum cinerem
miscuisse malunt. reperitur in latere leporis os acui
simile, hoc scarifare dentes in dolore suadent. talus
bubulus accensus eos qui labant cum dolore admotus
confirmat. eiusdem cinis cum murra dentifricium
est. ossa quoque ex ungulis suum combusta eundem
usum praebent, item ossa ex acetabulis pernarum

180 circa quae coxendices vertuntur. isdem sanari
demissis in fauces iumentorum verminationes notum
est, sed et combustis dentes confirmari, asinino quo-
que lacte percussu vexatos aut dentium eiusdem
cinere. item lichene equi cum oleo infuso per aurem.
est autem hoc non hippomanes, quod alioqui noxium

181 omitto, sed in equorum genibus ac super ungulas.

122

BOOK XXVIII. xlviii. 177-XLix. 181

of fenugreek, more efficaciously with the addition of
strychnos. Beneficial also are the testicles of foxes
and bull's blood dried and pounded, she-goat's urine
warmed and poured by drops into the ear, and an
application of she-goat's dung with axle-grease.

XLIX. Loose teeth are made tight by the ash of fot the teeth.
deer's horn, which relieves their pain, whether used
as dentifrice or in a mouth wash. Some consider
more efficacious for all the same purposes the unburnt
horn ground to powder. Dentifrices are made in
either way. A grand remedy too is a wolfs head
reduced to ash. It is certain that bones are generally
found in the excrements of wolves. Used as an amulet
these have the same effect, and hare's rennet relieves
toothache if poured through the ear. Hare's head
reduced to ash makes a dentifrice, and with nard
added corrects a bad odour from the mouth. Some
prefer to add as well ash from the burnt heads of
mice. There is found in the flank of a hare a bone
like a needle, with which they recommend aching
teeth to be scraped. The ignited pastern bone of an
ox, applied to teeth that are loose and aching,
tightens them ; the ash of the same with myrrh makes
a dentifrice. The bones also of pigs' feet, when burnt,
have the same effect, as have the bones from the
sockets round which the hip-bones move. It is well
known that by these, when inserted into the throat
of draught cattle, worms are cured, that by them,
when burnt, teeth are tightened, as they are, when
loosened through a blow, by ass's milk, by the ash of
an ass's teeth, or by the lichen of a horse poured with
oil through the ear. This lichen is not the same
as hippomanes, which being pernicious on several
grounds I omit, but an excrescence on the knees of

123

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

praeterea in corde equorum invenitur os dentibus cani-
nis maximis simile, hoc scarifari dolorem aut exempto
dente mortui equi maxillis ad numerum eius qui do-
leat demonstrant. equarum virus a coitu in ellychniis
accensum Anaxilaus prodidit x equinorum capitum
visus 2 repraesentare monstrifice, similiter ex asinis.
nam hippomanes tantas in veneficio vires habet ut
adfusum aeris mixturae in effigiem equae Olympiae

182 admotos mares equos ad rabiem coitus agat. mede-
tur dentibus et fabrile glutinum in aqua decoctum
inlitum et mox paulo detractum ita ut confestim con-
luantur vino in quo decocti sunt cortices mali Punici
dulcis. efficax habetur et caprino lacte conlui dentes
vel felle taurino. talorum caprae recentium cinis
dentrifricio placet et omnium fere villaticarum
quadrupedum, ne saepius eadem dicantur.

183 L. Cutem in facie erugari et tenerescere candore 3
lacte asinino putant, notumque est quasdam cottidie
septies genas 4 custodito numero fovere. Poppaea
hoc Neronis principis instituit, balnearum quoque
solia sic temperans, ob hoc asinarum gregibus eam
comitantibus. impetus pituitae in facie butyro inlito
tolluntur, efficacius cum cerussa, sincero vero ea vitia

1 Hic lichenis add. I. Miiller : servat Mayhoff.

2 visus vulg. : usus Detlefsen, codd.

3 candore Urlichs, Detlefsen, Mayhoff, qui conicit candore
eius aucto (vel lucido) : candore custodito codd.

4 septies genas Mayhoff : septingenties multi codd., Hard.,
Detlefsen : septingentes VE. Coni. sescenties Warmington.

a Candore without an epithet or cum is odd, as Mayhoff felt
whcn he added eius aucto. A repeated custodito can hardlv be
right, even in Pliny. If thc custodito 6f the MSS. has replaced
a lost adjective or participle it is but guess-work to attempt
emendation.

124

BOOK XXVIII. xlix. 181-L. 183

horses and above their hoofs. Moreover, in the
heart of horses is found a bone like very large canine
teeth ; with this they prescribe the painful tooth
to be scraped, or with the tooth, corresponding to the
place of the aching tooth, extracted from the jaw-
bone of a dead horse. Anaxilaus has informed us
that the fluid coming from mares when covered, if
ignited on lamp wicks, shows weird appearances
of horses' heads, and similarly with asses. But
hippomanes has such virulent and magical properties
that, added to the molten bronze for a figure of an
Olympian mare, it maddens any stallions brought
near with a raving sexual lust. Teeth are also
healed by workman's glue boiled down in water, ap-
plied, and shortly after taken off, the teeth immedi-
ately to be rinsed in wine in which the rind of sweet
pomegranates has been boiled. It is also thought
efficacious to rinse the teeth in goat's milk or bull's
gall. The ash from a freshly-killed she-goat's pastern
bones makes a popular dentifrice, and, so that I need
not repeat myself, the same is true of nearly all female
farm quadrupeds.

L. It is thought that ass's milk removes wrinkles Forthe
from the face, making the skin white ° and soft, and comPle*ion-
it is well known that some women every day bathe
their cheeks in it seven ° times, keeping carefully
to that number. Poppaea, wife of the Emperor Nero,
began this custom, even preparing her bath-tubs with
the milk, and for this purpose she was always attended
by troops of she-asses. Pituitous eruptions on the
face are removed by the application of butter, the
addition of white-lead being an improvement, but

6 The septingenties of many MSS. must surely be wrong, even
as a playfulexaggeration. Warmington's suggestion is happy.

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

quae serpunt, superinposita farina hordeacia, ulcera

184 in facie membrana e partu bovis madida. frivolum
videatur, non tamen omittendum propter desideria
mulierum, talum candidi iuvenci XL diebus nocti-
busque, donec resolvatur in liquorem, decoctum et in-
litum linteolo candorem cutisque erugationem prae-
stare. fimo taurino malas rubescere aiunt, non ut *
crocodileam inlini melius sit,2 sed foveri frigida et ante

185 et postea iubent. testas et quae decolorem faciunt
cutem fimum vituli cum oleo et cummi manu sub-
actum emendat, ulcera oris ac rimas sebum vituli vel
bovis cum adipe anserino et ocimi suco. est et alia
mixtura sebo vituli cum medulla cervi et albae spinae
foliis una tritis. idem praestat et medulla cum resina

186 vel si vaccina sit, et ius e carne vaccina. lichenas oris
praestantissime vincit glutinum factum e genitalibus
vitulorum, liquatum aceto cum sulpure vivo, ramo
ficulneo permixtum, ita ut bis die recens inlinatur,
item lepras ex melle et aceto decoctum, quas et iocur
hirci calidum inlinitum tollit, sicut elephantiasin fel
caprinum, etiamnum lepras ac furfures tauri fel addito
nitro, urina asini circa canis ortum, maculas in facie fel
utriusque per sese aqua infractum evitatisque solibus

187 ac ventis post detractam cutem. similis effectus et in
taurino vitulinove felle cum semine cunilae, cinere e

1 ut del. Gelenius.

2 sit Urlichs, Mayhojf, sed {codd.) deleto.

a See § 108. The non ut is curious, as the sense requires
non ut non. Gelenius would delete ut. Warmington suggests
ut non.

b Perhaps sun-burn.
126

BOOK XXVIII. l. 183-187

spreading sores by unmixed butter with a sprinkling
of barley meal on top, and ulcers on the face by the
membrane, still moist, that follows the birth of a
calf. The following recipe may seem a trifle, but
to satisfy the women I must not omit it : the pastern
bone of a white bull-calf, boiled for forty days and
nights until it melts to a jelly, and applied on a linen
cloth, gives whiteness to the skin and smooths away
wrinkles. They say that bull's dung brings a rosy
colour to the cheeks, though it is better to rub them
with crocodilea,a but before and after they must be
bathed with cold water. Brick-red spots b and dis-
colorations of the skin are removed by calf dung
kneaded by hand with oil and gum, sores and cracks
in the mouth by veal suet or beef suet with goose
grease and juice of ocimum. There is yet another
compound, veal suet with deer's marrow and white-
thorn leaves pounded together. The same effect
is given by marrow with resin, even if it is cow
marrow, and by the broth from cow beef. An Foraffec-
excellent cure for facial lichens is the gluey substance j?£"* °fthe
made from the genitals of calves, dissolved in vinegar
with native sulphur, stirred up with a fig branch and
applied fresh twice a day, and the same boiled down
in honey and vinegar for leprous sores, which are
also removed by a warm application of he-goat's liver,
as is leprosy by goat's gall. Moreover, leprous sores
and scurf are removed by bull's gall with soda, or at
the rising of the Dog-star by ass's urine ; spots on
the face by the gall of either animal broken up in
water without addition ; after the skin has come
away sun and winds must be avoided. A similar
effect is also obtained by bull's gall or veal gall, with
the seed of cunila, and the ash of deer's horn burnt

127

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

cornu cervino, si canicula exoriente conburatur. asi-
nino sebo cicatricibus a lichene leprisque maxime color
redditur. hirci fel et lentigines tollit admixto caseo
ac vivo sulpure spongeaeque cinere, ut sit mellis

188 crassitudo. aliqui inveterato felle maluere uti,
mixtis calidis furfuribus pondere oboli unius quattuor-
que mellis, prius defricatis maculis. efficax eiusdem
et sebum cum melanthio et sulpure et iride, labrorum
fissuris cum anserino adipe ac medulla cervina resina-
que et calce. invenio aput auctores his qui lentigines
habeant negari magice sacrificiorum usum.

189 LI. Lacte bubulo aut caprino tonsillae et arteriae
exulceratae levantur. gargarizatur tepidum ut est
usus, expressum aut calefactum. caprinum utilius
cum malva decoctum et sale exiguo. linguae exul-
cerationi et arteriarum prodest ius omasi gargariza-
tum, tonsillis autem privatim renes vulpium aridi cum
melle triti inlitique, anginae fel taurinum vel capri-

190 num cum melle, iocur melis ex aqua. oris gravitatem
ulceraque butyrum emendat. spinam aliudve quid
faucibus adhaerens felis extrinsecus fimo perfricatis
aut reddi aut delabi tradunt. strumas discutit fel
aprunum vel bubulum tepidum inlitum — nam coagu-
lum leporis e vino in linteolo exulceratis dumtaxat in-

191 ponitur — discutit et ungulae asini vel equi cinis ex
oleo vel aqua inlitus et urina calefacta et bovis un-
gulae cinis ex aqua, fimum quoque fervens ex aceto,
item sebum caprinum cum calce aut fimum ex aceto
decoctum testesque vulpini. prodest et sapo, Gal-

BOOK XXVIII. l. 187-Li. 191

at the rising of the lesser Dog-star. By ass suet their
natural colour is restored to scars, especially to those
left by lichen or leprous sores. Freckles too are
removed by he-goat's gall mixed with cheese, native
sulphur, and sponge ash ; the consistency of the
mixture should be that of honey. Some have pre-
ferred to use matured gali, mixing one obolus of
warm bran and four oboli of honey, the spots being
first rubbed. An efficacious mixture is also he-goat's
suet with melanthium, sulphur, and iris ; for cracks
in the lips the suet with goose grease, deer's marrow,
resin, and lime. I find in my authorities that those
with freckles are debarred from assisting at magic
ritual.

LI. Cow's milk or goat's is helpful for ulcerated
tonsils or trachea. It is used as a gargle, of the month.
usual warmth, either newly milked or heated.
Goat's milk is more useful, boiled down with mallow
and a little salt. For ulceration of the tongue or
trachea a remedy is a gargle of tripe broth, while for
tonsils are specific dried fox kidneys pounded with
honey and applied, and for quinsy bull's or goat's
gall with honey, or badger's liver in water. Butter
remedies offensive breath and ulcerated mouth. If
a pointed thing or anything else sticks in the throat,
external rubbing with cat's dung is said either to
bring it up or to make it pass down. Scrofulous sores
are dispersed by a warm application of wild-boar's
gall or ox gall (but hare's rennet, on a linen cloth
with wine, is applied only when there is ulceration)
or by the ash of the hoof of ass or horse applied in oil
or water, the urine heated, the ash of an ox's hoof in
water, t.he hot dung in vinegar, goat suet with lime
or dung boiled in vinegar, or a fox's testicles. Soap

129

VOL. VIII. F

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

liarum l hoc inventum rutilandis capillis. fit ex sebo
et cinere, optimus fagino et caprino,2 duobus modis,
spissus ac liquidus, uterque apud Germanos maiore in
usu viris quam feminis.

192 LII. Cervicium dolores butyro aut adipe ursino
perfricentur, rigores bubulo sebo, quod strumis pro-
dest cum oleo. dolorem inflexibilem — opisthotonum
vocant — levat urina caprae auribus infusa aut fimum
cum bulbis inlitum, ungues contusos fel cuiuscumque
animalis circumligatum, pterygia digitorum fel tauri
aridum aqua calida dissolutum. quidam adiciunt
sulpur et alumen pari pondere omnium.

193 LIII. Tussim iocur lupi ex vino tepido sanat, ursi-
num fel admixto melle aut ex cornus bubuli summis
partibus cinis, vel saliva equi triduo pota — ecum mori
tradunt — pulmo cervinus cum gula sua arefactus in
fumo, dein tusus ex melle cottidiano eligmate ;
efficacior est ad id subulo cervorum generis. san-

194 guinem expuentes cervini cornus cinis, coagulum
leporis tertia parte denarii cum terra Samia et vino
myrteo potum sanat, eiusdem fimi cinis in vino vesperi
potus nocturnas tusses, pili quoque leporis suffiti extra-
hunt pulmonibus difficiles excreationes. purulentas
autem exulcerationes pectoris pulmonisque et a pul-
mone graveolentiam halitus butyrum efficacissime
iuvat cum pari modo mellis Attici decoctum donec

1 Galliarum dT Mayhoff : Gallarum RE : Gallorum V.
vulg., Detlefsen.

2 caprino codd., Mayhoff : carpineo Sillig, Detlefsen.

a Sillig's emendation, adopted by Detlefsen, would give :
" or hornbeam." It was suggested by thc strange arrange-
ment of sebo, cinere, fagino, caprino.

130

BOOK XXVIII. li. 191-Liii. 194

is also good, an invention of the Gallic provinces for
making the hair red. It is made from suet and ash,
the best from beech ash and goat suet,° in two kinds,
thick and liquid, both being used among the Germans,
more by men than by women.

LII. For pains in the neck it should be rubbed with
butter or bear's grease, and for stiffness with beef
suet, which with oil is good for scrofulous sores. The
rigid cramp, called opisthotonus, is relieved by
she-goat's urine poured into the ears or by an
application of the dung with bulbs, crushed nails by
binding round them the gall of any animal, and
whitlows by dried bull's gall dissolved in hot water.
Some add sulphur and alum, all the ingredients being
of equal weight.

LIII. Cough is cured by wolfs liver in warmed Forcough.
wine, by bear's gall mixed with honey, by the tips of
the horns of ox or cow reduced to ash, by the saliva
of a horse taken for three days (they say that the
horse dies), by a deer's lung dried in smoke with the
gullet, then pounded in honey and taken daily as an
electuary, the species of deer more efficacious for
this purpose being the subulo.6 Spitting of blood is
cured by the ash of deers horn, and by hare's
rennet, the dose being one third part of a denarius,
with Samian c earth and myrtle wine. Hare's dung
reduced to ash and taken in wine in the evening cures
night coughs, and inhaling the smoke of burning
hare's-fur brings up difficult expectorations. Purulent
ulceration of the chest or lungs, and foul breath from
the lungs, are very effectivelyrelieved by butter boiled
with an equal measure of Attic honey until it turns

b See XI. § 213.

c A fine clay, of which the famous Samian ware was made.

131

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

rufescat et matutinis sumptum ad mensuram lingulae.

195 quidam pro melle laricis resinam addere maluere. si
sanguis reiciatur, efficacem tradunt bubulum san-
guinem, modice et cum aceto sumptum, nam de
taurino credere temerarium est. sed glutinum
taurinum tribus obolis cum calida aqua bibitur in
vetere sanguinis excreatione.

196 LIV. Stomachum exulceratum lactis asinini potus
reficit, item bubuli, rosiones eius caro bubula admixto
aceto et vino cocta, rheumatismos cornus cervini cinis,
sanguinis excreationes haedinus sanguis recens ad
cyathos ternos cum aceto acri pari modo fervens potus,
coagulum tertia parte ex aceto potum, LV. iocineris

197 dolores lupi iocur aridum ex mulso, asini iocur aridum
cum petroselini partibus duabus ac nucibus tribus ex
melle tritum et in cibo sumptum, sanguis hircinus
cibo aptatus. suspiriosis ante omnia efficax est potus
equiferorum sanguinis, proxime lactis asinini tepidi,
bubuli * decocti ita ut serum ex eo bibatur, addito in
tres heminas cyatho nasturtii albi perfusi aqua, deinde
melle diluti. iocur quoque vulpinum aut pulmo in
vino nigro aut fel ursinum in aqua laxat meatus
spirandi.

198 LVI. Lumborum dolores et quaecumque alia mol-
liri opus sit ursino adipe perfricari convenit, cinerem
apruni aut suilli fimi inveterati aspergi potioni vini.
[adferunt 2 et Magi sua commenta : primum omnium
rabiem hircorum, si mulceatur barba, mitigari, eadem

1 bubuli VRdT, Detlefsen, Mayhoff : bulbi E : bulbis r vulg.

2 adferunt VRd vulg. Mayhoff : adiciunt Sillig, Detlefsen.

a It was supposed to be poison.
132

BOOK XXVIII. liii. 194-Lvi. 198

red, the dose being a spoonful taken in the morning ;
some instead of honey have preferred to add larch
resin. For spitting of blood it is said to be beneficial
to drink ox or cow blood, a moderate amount taken
in vinegar. But to trust recommendations of bull's
blood is hazardous ; a bull glue, however, in three-
oboli doses is taken with warm water for chronic
spitting of blood.

LIV. An ulcerated stomach is cured by drinking Forstomack
ass's milk or cow's milk ; gnawings of the stomach by m
beef boiled in a mixture of vinegar and wine ;
catarrhs by the ash of deer's horn ; spitting of blood
by fresh kid's-blood taken hot, in doses up to three
cyathi, with an equal amount of strong vinegar, or by
one part of kid's rennet with two parts of vinegar; LV.
pains of the liver by dried wolf 's liver in honey wine ;
by dried ass's liver, with two parts of rock parsley
and three nuts, pounded in honey and taken in food,
and by he-goat's blood made suitable for food. For
asthma, effective above all things is to drink the
blood of wild horses, next to drink warm ass's milk,
or cow's milk boiled, the part drunk being the whey
only, with the addition for every three heminae of a
cyathus of white cress steeped in water and then
tempered with honey. A fox's liver or lung also in
dark wine, or bear's gall in water, loosens the breath
passage.

LVI. Pains in the loins and all other complaints Fonheioins.
needing emollients should be treated by rubbing with
bear's grease, or the ash of wild boar's or pig's
dried dung should be sprinkled in a draught of
wine. [The Magi too add their usual lies : first of
all, that the madness of he-goats is soothed if their
beard is stroked, and if it is cut off, they do not stray

133

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

praecisa non abire eos in alienum gregem.1] ischia-
dicis fimum bubulum inponunt calfactum in foliis
cinere ferventi.2 huic admiscent fimum caprinum et
subdito linteolo uncto cava manu quantum capi possit
fervens sustineri iubent ita ut, si laeva pars doleat,
haec medicina in dextera manu fiat aut e contrario.
fimum quoque ad eum usum acus aereae punctu tolli

199 iubent. modus est curationis donec vapor ad lumbos
pervenisse sentiatur, postea manum porro tuso in-
linunt, item lumbos ipso fimo cum melle ; suadent in
eo dolore et testes leporis devorare. in renium dolore
leporis renes crudos devorari iubent, aut certe coctos
ita ne dente contingantur. ventris quidem dolore
temptari negant talum leporis habentes.

200 LVII. Lienem sedat fel apri vel suis potum vel
cervini cornus cinis in aceto, efficacissime tamen in-
veteratus lien asini ita ut in triduo sentiatur utilitas.
asinini pulli fimum quod primum edidit — poleam
vocant — Syri dant in aceto mulso, datur et equi lingua
inveterata ex vino praesentaneo medicamento, ut
didicisse se ex barbaris Caecilius Bion tradidit, et lien
bubulus simili modo, recens autem assus vel elixus in
cibo. in vesica quoque bovis alii capita XX tusa cum

1 uncos add. Mayhoff.

2 ischiadicis . . . ferventi transposuit Mayhoff ex § 199, ubi
post leporis devorare ha.be.nt codd., vulg.

a I have bracketed this sentence, following Mayhoff; where
it sliould be transferred is not elear.

b Mayhoffs transposition of ischiadicis fimum . . . ferventi
is not ccrtain, although Dioscorides, II. 80, § 2, evl loxiaoLKiov
. . . KaXelrai Se rotauT?; Kavms WpafitKT], is very siniilar. Thc
huic ndmiscent after imponunt is strange ; if the transposition
is correct, huic must mean " the dung last mentioned," and the

134

BOOK XXVIII. lvi. 198-Lvn. 200

to another herd.] ° For sciatica they apply cow-dung
heated in leaves over hot embers.6 With this dung
they mix goat 's dung, prescribing that as much as it can
contain should be held hot in the hollow of the hand,
a linen cloth soaked in oil being placed underneath ;
if the left side aches the medicament should be held
in the right hand, and vice versa ; the dung for this
purpose, they say, must be taken up with the point of
a bronze needle. The treatment iscontinued until
the warmth is felt to have reached the loins ; after-
wards they rub the hand with pounded leek, the loins
also with the dung itself and honey. For this pain
they also recommend sufferers to swallow a hare's
testicles. For pain in the kidneys they prescribe the
kidneys of a hare to be swallowed raw, or if boiled
at least not to be touched by a tooth. Bowel pain
indeed never, they say, afflicts those who carry about
them the pastern bone of a hare.

LVII. The spleen is relieved by wild boar's or pig's for the
gall taken by the mouth, by ash of deer's horn in spee
vinegar, but most efficaciously by matured ass's spleen,
with the result that benefit is felt within three days.
The first dung passed by an ass's foal, called polea, is
administered by the Syrians in oxymel. There is
also administered in wine as a sovereign remedy the
dried tongue of a horse, as Caecilius Bion reports
that he learnt from foreigners.c Spleen of ox or cow
is administered in a similar way ; if fresh it is roasted
or boiled and taken in food. There are also applied
for pains in the spleen twenty crushed heads of garlic

application to the hip is to be reinforced by holding some in
the hand.

e This is interesting, for it shows how wide Pliny spread his
net. The remedies given are by no means all Italian.

135

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

201 aceti sextario imponuntur ad lienis dolores. eadem
ex causa emi lienem vituli quanti indicatus sit iubent
Magi nulla pretii cunctatione, quoniam hoc quoque
religiose pertineat, divisumque per longitudinem
adnecti tunicae utrimque et induentem pati decidere
ad pedes, dein collectum arefacere in umbra. cum
hoc fiat, simul residere lienem aegri vitiatum liberari-
que eum morbo dicitur. prodest et pulmo vulpium
cinere siccatus atque in aqua potus, item haedorum
lien impositus.

202 LVIII. Alvum sistit cervi sanguis, item cornus
cinis, iocur aprunum ex vino potum citra salem
recensque, item assum, vel suillum, hircinum decoc-
tum ad quintas * in vino, coagulum leporis in vino
ciceris magnitudine aut, si febris sit, ex aqua — aliqui
et gallam adiciunt, alii per se leporis sanguine con-
tenti sunt — lac coctum, equini flmi cinis in aquae potu,
taurini cornus veteris e parte ima cinis inspersus
potioni aquae, sanguis hircinus in carbone decoctus,
corium caprinum cum suo pilo decoctum suco epoto,

203 coagulum equi et sanguis caprinus vel medulla vel
iocur. alvum solvit fel lupi cum elaterio umbilico
inlitum 2 vel lactis equini potus, item caprini cum sale
et melle, caprae fel cum cyclamini suco et aluminis
momento — aliqui et nitrum et aquam adiecisse malunt
— fel tauri cum absinthio tritum ac subditum pastillo,

1 ad quintas ego : ad quintam heminae Detlefsen : ad
quintas hemina Mayhoff : ad quintam heminam codd.

2 inlitum vet. Dal., Mayhoff : inligatum codd., Detlefsen.

a I believe that the -s of quintas was taken to be a sign for
hemina; the further change to quinta(m) htminam would be
inevitable. For the omission of a measure cf. ad dimidias
partes § 206.

136

bowels.

BOOK XXVIII. lvii. 200-Lviii. 203

in the bladder of an ox with a sextarius of vinegar.
For the same purpose the Magi recommend a calfs
spleen to be bought at the price asked, without any
haggling, attention to this also affecting the efficacy of
the ritual. This spleen should be divided lengthwise
and attached to the patient's tunic on both sides.
As he puts it on, the patient should allow the spleen
to fall to his feet, then pick it up and dry in the shade.
At the same time as this happens, the diseased spleen
of the patient is said to shrink, and he himself to be
freed from his complaint. Beneficial too is fox lung
dried on embers and taken in water, and kids' spleen
applied locally.

LVIII. Binding to the bowels are stag's blood, Forthe
stag's horn reduced to ash, wild boar's liver taken in
wine, unsalted and fresh, the same liver roasted, pig's
liver, he-goat's liver boiled down to one fifth ° in wine,
hare's rennet of the size of a chick-pea in wine, or if
there is fever, in water — some add a gall-nut, others
are content with hare's blood by itself — boiled milk,
horse dung reduced to ash in a draught of water, the
root of an old horn of a bull reduced to ash and
sprinkled on a draught of water, he-goat's blood boiled
down over charcoal, the juice, taken by the mouth, of
goat's skin boiled down with the hair on, horse rennet
and goat's blood, marrow, or liver. The bowels are
loosened by wolf 's gall applied b to the navel with
elaterium, or by draughts of mare's milk, or of goat's
milk with salt and honey, by she-goat's gall with
j uice of cyclamen and a little alum — some prefer to
add both soda and water — bull's gall pounded with
wormwood and used in the form of a lozenge as a
suppository, and by large doses of butter. Those

6 Cf. § 205 umbilico inponere.

137

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

204 butyrum largius sumptum. coeliacis et dysintericis
medetur iocur vaccinum, cornus cervini cinis tribus
digitis captus in potione aquae, coagulum leporis
subactum in pane, si vero sanguinem detrahant, in
polenta, apruni vel suilli vel leporini fimi cinis
inspersus potioni tepidi vini. vituli quoque ius
vulgariter dari x inter auxilia coeliacorum et dysin-
tericorum tradunt. lactis asinini potus utilior addito
melle, nec minus efficax fimi cinis ex vino utrique
vitio, item polea supra dicta, equi coagulum, quod

205 aliqui hippacen appellant, etiam si sanguinem detra-
hant, vel fimi cinis dentiumque eiusdem tusorum
farina salutaris et bubuli lactis decocti potus. dysin-
tericis addi mellis exiguum praecipiunt et, si tormina
sint, cornus cervini cinerem aut fel taurinum cumino
mixtum et cucurbitae carnes umbilico inponere.
caseus recens vaccinus inmittitur ad utrumque vitium,
item butyrum heminis quattuor cum resinae tere-
binthinae sextante aut cum malva decocta aut cum
rosaceo. datur et sebum vitulinum aut bubulum,

206 item medulla 2 — et cocuntur 3 cum farinae ceraeque
exiguo et oleo, ut sorberi possit ; 4 medulla et in pane
subigitur — lac caprinum ad dimidias partes decoctum.
si sint et tormina, additur protropum. torminibus
satis esse remedii in leporis coagulo poto e vino tepido
\<1 semel arbitrantur aliqui. cautiores et sanguine

1 dari Mayhoff : datum Detlefsen : datum aut dati codd.
- incduJla VdTE Mayhoff : medullae R, valg., Detlefsen.
s et coquuntur (cocuntur) VdTE : excoquuntur R, vulg.,
Detlefsen : et coquitur Mayhoff.

4 possit Mayhoff, codd. : possint Detlefsen, vulg.

138

BOOK XXVIII. lviii. 203 206

with coeliac disorder or dysentery are benefited by
cow's liver, a three-finger pinch of the ash of deer's
horn taken in a draught of water, by hare's rennet
kneaded in bread, but in pearl barley if blood is
brought away, and by ash of wild boar's, pigs, or
hare's dung sprinkled on a draught of warm wine.
It is also reportcd that veal broth is a popular remedy
to relieve sufferers from coeliac disorder or dysentery.
Ass's milk makes a more beneficial draught with the
addition of honey, the dung, reduced to ash and taken
in wine, is 110 less efficacious for either complaint,
polea a too, which I mentioned just now, horse's
rennet, that some call kippace, even if blood is brought
away, or the dung ash and crushed teeth of the same
animal, a health-giving powder, and taken with boiled
cow's milk. For dysentery is prescribed the addition
of a little honey, and if there are griping pains to apply
to the navel the ash of deer's horn or bull's gall mixed
with cummin, and the fleshy parts of a gourd. New
cheese made from cow's milk is injected for both
complaints, so also four heminae of butter with two
ounces of terebinth resin, or with a decoction of
mallows, or with rose oil. There is administered also
veal suet, beef suet, or the marrow (they are boiled
with a little flour and wax, and with oil, so that to
drink the mixture is possible, and the marrow is also
kneaded in bread), and goat's milk boiled down to
one half ; if there is also griping, protropum b is added.
It is thought by some that a sufficient remedy for
griping is even a single dose of hare's rennet taken in
warm wine ; more careful people also apply as

a See § 200.

6 The first wine made from grapes before pressing. See
XIV. § 75 and § 85.

139

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

caprino cum farina hordeacea et resina ventrem in-

207 linunt. ad omnes epiphoras ventris inlini caseum
mollem suadent, veterem autem in farinam tritum
coeliacis et dysintericis dari, cyatho casei in cyathis
vini cibarii tribus. sanguis caprinus decoctus cum
medulla dysintericis, iocur assum caprae coeliacis
subvenit, magisque etiam hirci, in vino austero decoc-
tum potumque vel ex oleo myrteo umbilico inpositum.
quidam decocunt a tribus sextariis aquae ad heminam

208 addita ruta. utuntur et liene asso caprae hircive et
sebo hirci in pane qui cinere coctus sit, caprae a reni
bus maxime, ut per se hauriatur protinus aqua x
modice frigida. sorberi iubent aliqui et in aqua
decoctum sebum admixta polenta et cumino et aneto
acetoque. inlinunt et ventrem coeliacis fimo cum

209 melle decocto. utuntur ad utrumque vitium et
coagulo haedi in vino myrtite fabae magnitudine poto
et sanguine eiusdem in cibum formato quem sangui-
culum vocant. infundunt dysintericis et glutinum
taurinum aqua calida resolutum. inflationes discutit
vitulinum fimum in vino decoctum. intestinorum
vitiis magnopere prodest coagulum cervorum decoc-
tum cum lente betaque atque in cibo ita sumptum,
leporis pilorum cinis cum melle decoctus,2 lactis cap-

210 rini potu decocti cum malva exiguo sale addito. si
et coagulum addatur, maioribus emolumentis fiat.

1 aqua Detlefsen : -que Mayhojf : que, inque, lique codd.

2 decoctus d vulg., Mayhoff : decocto multi codd., Detlefsen.

a We should say " grated cheese."
140

BOOK XXVIII. lviii. 206-210

embrocation to the belly goat's blood with barley
meal and resin. For all fluxes from the belly an
application of soft cheese is recommended, but
matured cheese powdered ° is used for coeliac dis-
orders and dysentery, the dose being a cyathus of
cheese in three cyathi of ordinary wine. A decoction
of goat's blood with goat's marrow is beneficial for
dysentery, roasted she-goat's liver for coeliac com-
plaints, or, better still, that of a he-goat boiled down
in dry wine and drunk, or applied to the navel in
myrtle oil. Some boil it down from three sextarii of
water to one hemina with rue added. They also use
the roasted spleen of a she-goat or he-goat with the
suet of a he-goat in bread baked over hot ashes, the
best suet being from the kidneys of a she-goat, which
should be swallowed by itself, and be immediately
followed by a draught of moderately cold water.
Some prescribe also a decoction of the suet in water,
made into a stew with other ingredients — pearl
barley, cummin, dill, and vinegar. They also rub
the belly of sufferers from coeliac disorders with a
decoction of honey and goat's dung. For both
complaints they also use kid's rennet, of the size of a
bean, taken in myrtle wine, or kid's blood made into
a food, called " blood pudding." They also inject
into dysentery patients bull glue dissolved in hot
water. Flatulence is dispersed by calf dung boiled
down in wine. Disorders of the intestines are greatly
benefited by a decoction of deers' rennet with lentils
and beet, and so taken in food, by the ash of hare's
fur boiled down with honey, by a draught of goat's
milk boiled down with mallows with the addition of a
little salt ; if goat's rennet too is added the beneficial
effects will be much greater. The same is the effect

141

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

eadem vis est et in sebo caprino in sorbitione aliqua,
uti protinus hauriatur frigida aqua. item feminum
haedi cinis rupta intestina sarcire mire traditur,
fimum leporis cum melle decoctum et cottidie fabae
magnitudine sumptum ita ut deploratos sanaverint.
laudant et caprini capitis sum suis pilis decocti sucum.

211 LIX. Tenesmos, id est crebra et inanis voluntas
desurgendi,1 tollitur poto lacte asinino, item bubulo.
taenearum genera pellit cervini cornus cinis potus.
quae in excrementis lupi diximus inveniri ossa, si
terram non attigerint, colo medentur adalligata
bracchio. polea quoque supra dicta magnopere pro-
dest decocta in sapa, item suilli fimi farina addito
cumino in aqua rutae decoctae, cornus cervini teneri
cinis cocleis Africanis cum testa sua tusis mixtus in
vini potione.

212 LX. Vesicae calculorumque cruciatibus auxiliatur
urina apri et ipsa vesica pro cibo sumpta, efficacius, si
prius fumo maceretur utrumque. vesicam elixam
mandi oportet, et a muliere feminae suis. inveni-
untur et in iocineribus eorum lapilli aut duritiae
lapillis similes, candidae, sicut in vulgari sue, quibus
contritis atque in vino potis pelli calculos aiunt. ipsi
apro tam gravis urina sua est ut nisi egesta fugae non
sufficiat ac velut devinctus opprimatur, exuri illa

1 id est . . . desurgendi in uncis ponere velit Warmington.

a Warmington thinks that the explanation of tenesmos is a
gloss.

b See § 178.
c See § 200.
d Book XIV. § 80 ; it was must boiled down to one third.

142

BOOK XXVIII. LVIII. 2IO-LX. 212

of goat's suet in some kind of stew, to be immedi-
ately followed by a draught of cold water. A kid's
hams also reduced to ash are said to be wonderfully
healing to intestinal rupture, and the dung of a hare,
boiled down with honey and taken daily in doses the
size of a bean, to be so beneficial as they have cured
desperate cases. Highly recommended also is the
broth of a goat's head with the fur still on.

LIX. Tenesmus, that is a frequent and ineffectual
desire to go to stool,a is removed by drinking ass's
milk, or cow's milk. Worms are expelled by ash of
deer's horn, taken in drink. The bones that I have
said b are found in the excrements of a wolf, tied on
to the arm as an amulet without touching the earth,
are a cure for colitis. Polea also, mentioned above,c
is of great benefit if boiled down in sapa,d likewise too
powdered pig's dung and cummin in the water of a
decoction of rue, and young deer's horn reduced to
ash, mixed with African snails pounded with their
shells and taken in a draught of wine.

LX. The tortures of stone in the bladder are te-Forstone
lieved bv the urine of a wild boar and bv his bladder f£the

iri /«lii -i kianeys.

ltself taken as iood ; both remedies are more
efficacious if first thoroughly smoked. The bladder
should be eaten boiled, and be a sow's if the patient
is a woman. There are also found in the liver of
these animals little stones, or hard substances like
stones, white, and like those found in the liver of the
common pig. These, crushed and taken in wine, are
said to expel stone. His own urine is such a burden
to the boar himself that unless he has voided it he
is not strong enough for flight, and is over-
come as if spell-bound. It is said that the urine
dissolves the stone. Stone is also expelled by a

x43

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

213 tradunt eos.1 leporis renes inveterati in vino poti
calculos pellunt. in pernae suum articulo os 2 esse
diximus quod decoctum ius facit urinae utile.
asini renes inveterati tritique ex vino mero dati
vesicae medentur. calculos expellunt lichenes equini
ex vino aut mulso poti diebus XL. prodest et un-
gulae equinae cinis in vino aut aqua, item fimum
caprarum in mulso, efficacius silvestrium, pili quoque
caprini cinis ; verendorum carbunculis cerebrum apri

214 vel suis sanguisque. vitia vero quae in eadem parte
serpunt iocur eorum combustum, maxime iunipiri
ligno, cum charta et arrhenico sanat, fimi cinis, fel
bubulum cum alumine Aegyptio ac murra ad crassi-
tudinem mellis subactum, insuper beta ex vino cocta
inposita, caro quoque ; manantia vero ulcera sebum
cum medulla vituli in vino decoctum, fel caprinum
cum melle rubique suco, vel si serpant ; fimum etiam
prodesse cum melle dicunt aut cum aceto et per se

215 butyrum. testium tumor sebo vituli addito nitro co-
hibetur vel fimo eiusdem ex aceto decocto. urinae
incontinentiam cohibet vesica apruna, si assa man-
datur, ungularum apri vel suis cinis potioni inspersus,
vesica feminae suis conbusta ac pota, item haedi, vel
pulmo, cerebrum leporis in vino, eiusdem testiculi
tosti vel coagulum cum anserino adipe in polenta,
renes asini in mero triti potique. Magi verrini geni-
talis cinere poto ex vino dulci demonstrant urinam

1 ea . . . illos coni. Mayhoff.

2 articulo os Mayhoff : articulos codd.

a See § 179.
144

BOOK XXVIII. lx. 212-215

hare's kidneys, dried and taken in wine. In the ham
joints of pigs I have saida there are bones the broth
from which is beneficial for urinary disorders. The
kidneys of an ass, dried, pounded, and given in neat
wine, cure complaints of the bladder. The excres-
cences on the legs of horses, taken for forty days in
wine or honey wine, expel stone. Beneficial too is the
ash of a horse's hoof in wine or water, the dung also
in honey wine of she-goats, that of wild goats being
more efficacious, the ash also of goat's hair, while for
carbuncles on the privates are used the brains and
blood of a wild boar or pig. Creeping sores however
in the same part are cured by the burnt liver of these
animals, best if the fire is of juniper wood, mixed
with paper and orpiment, by their dung reduced to
ash, by ox gall with Egyptian alum and myrrh,
kneaded to the consistency of honey, moreover bv
an application of beet boiled in wine, also by beef ;
but running ulcers by beef suet with the marrow of a
calf boiled down in wine, by goat's gall with honey
and blackberry juice, even if the sores are spreading.
They say that goat's dung too with honey or vinegar
is beneficial, and also butter by itself. Swelling of
the testicles is reduced by veal suet with the addition
of soda, or by calfs dung boiled down in vinegar.
Incontinence of urine is checked by a wild-boar's
bladder, if eaten roasted, by the ash of a wild-boar's
or pig's hoofs sprinkled on a drink, by the bladder
of a sow burnt and taken in drink, of a kid also, or by
its lung, by the brain of a hare in wine, by a hare's
roasted testicles, or the rennet, with goose grease in
pearl barley, or by the kidneys of an ass pounded in
neat wine and drunk. The Magi recommend that,
after drinking in sweet wine a boar's genital organ re-

145

PLINY: NATUllAL HISTORY

facere in canis cuhili ac vorba adicere, ne ipse urinam
faciat ut canis in suo cubili. rursus ciet urinam vesica
suis, si terram non attigerit, inposita pubi.

216 LXI. Sedis vitiis praeclare prodest fel ursinum cum
adipe. quidam adiciunt spumam argenti ac tus.
prodest et butyrum cum adipe anserino ac rosaceo ;
modum ipsae res statuunt, ut sint inlitu faciles. prae-
clare medetur et taurinum fel in linteolis concerptis,
rimasque perducit ad cicatricem. inflationibus in ea
parte sebum vituli, maxime ab inguinibus, cum ruta ;
ceteris vitiis medetur sanguis caprinus cum polenta,
item fel caprinum condylomatis per se, item fel

217 lupinum ex vino. panos et apostemata in quacumque
parte sanguis ursinus discutit, item taurinus aridus
tritus. praecipuum tamen remedium traditur in
calculo onagri quem dicitur, cum interficiatur, red-
dere urina liquidiorem initio sed in terra spissantem
se. hic adalligatus femini omnes impetus discutit
omnique suppuratione liberat. est autem rarus in-
ventu nec ex omni onagro, sed mire * celebrant 2
remedio. prodest et urina asini cum melanthio et
ungulae equinae cinis cum oleo et aqua inlitus,
sanguis equi, praecipue admissarii, sanguis bubulus,

218 item fel. caro quoque eosdem effectus habet calida
inposita et ungulae cinis ex aqua aut melle, urina
caprarum, hircorum quoque carnes in aqua decoctae

1 mire /. Muller, Mayhoff: medici Brakman: me r : ne E
om. multi codd.

2 celebrant /. Muller, Mayhoff : celebrari codd. : celebri
nilg. Forta^se maxime celebratur.

a I. Muller's emendations, adopted by Mayhoff, have been
kept with some misgivings. Mayhoff himself suggests mazimet

146

BOOK XXVIII. lx. 215-Lxi. 218

duced to ash, the patient should make water in a dog's
bed and add a prayer, that he may not himself make
water, as a dog does, in his own bed. On the other
hand, the bladder of a pig is diuretic, if, without
touching the ground, it is applied to the pubic part.
LXI. Complaints of the anus are greatly benefited
by bear's gall and bear's fat ; some add litharge and
frankincense. Beneficial too is butter with goose
grease and rose oil ; the quantities are determined by
circumstances ; the mixture must be easy to apply.
Greatly beneficial too is bull's gail in scraps of linen ;
it makes chaps to cicatrize. Swellings in that part
of the body are reduced by veal suet, especially by
that from the groin, with rue ; other complaints are
cured by goat's blood with pearl barley, condylomata
by goat's gall by itself, or by wolfs gall in wine.
Superficial and other abscesses in any part are dis-
persed by bear's blood, and likewise by bull's dried
and powdered. The finest remedy, however, is said
to be the stone which the wild ass is reported to pass
in his urine when he is being killed ; more fluid than
it at first, it grows thick when on the ground. This
stone fastened to the thigh as an amulet disperses all
inflamed swellings and clears away any suppuration.
It is found, however, rarely and not always in the wild
ass, but it is wonderfully famous a as a remedy.
Beneficial also is the urine of an ass with melanthium,
a horse's hoof reduced to ash and applied with oil and
water, the blood of a horse, especially of a stallion,
and the blood or gall of an ox or cow. Beef too has
the same effect if applied hot, the ash of the hoof in
water or honey, the urine of she-goats, the flesh too

and celebratur is perhaps nearer the MSS. reading than celebrant.
Brakman's emendation is possibly right.

147

For theanus.

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

aut fimum ex his cum melle decoctum, fel verrinum,
urina suum in lana inposita. femina adteri adurique
equitatu notum est. utilissimum est ad omnes inde
causas spumam equi ex ore inguinibus inlinere.
inguina et ex ulcerum causa intumescunt. remedio
sunt equi saetae tres totidem nodis alligatae intra
iilcus.

219 LXII. Podagris medetur ursinus adips taurinum-
que sebum pari pondere et cerae. addunt quidam
hypocisthidem et gallam. alii hircinum praeferunt
sebum cum fimo caprae et croco, sinapi, item1 caulibus
hederae tritis ac perdicio vel flore cucumeris silvestris.

220 item bovis fimum cum aceti faece magnificant et
vituli qui nondum herbam gustaverit fimum aut per
se sanguinem tauri, vulpem decoctam vivam donec
ossa tantum restent, lupumve vivum oleo cerati modo
incoctum, sebum hircinum cum helxines parte aequa.
sinapis tertia, fimi caprini cinerem cum axungia.
quin et ischiadicos uri sub pollicibus pedum eo fimo
fervente utilissime tradunt, articulorumque vitiis fel
ursinum utilissimum esse et pedes leporis adalligatos,
podagras quidem mitigari pede leporis viventi absciso,

221 si quis secum adsidue habeat. perniones ursinus adips
rimasque pedum omnes sarcit. erficacius alumine ad-
dito, sebum caprinum, dentium equi farina, aprunum
vel suillum fel cum adipe, pulmo inpositus, etsi subtriti
sint contunsive offensatione, si vero adusti frigore,
leporini pili cinis, eiusdem pulmo contusis dissectus

1 sinapi, item Mayhoff e Dioscoridc : sinapi vel Qdenius,
Detlefsen : sinapii vel E : sinapi cuni d r.

a I have adopted the emendation of Mayhoff, because he
has some confirmatory evidence in Dioscorides and Plinius
Junior. But in so amorphous a sentence any emendations
are necessarily dubious.
148

BOOK XXVIII. lxi. 218-Lxii. 221

of he-goats boiled down in water or their dung boiled
down with honey, a boar's gall, and a pigs' urine
applied on wool. It is well known that riding on a
horse chafes and galls the inner side of the thighs ;
most useful for all such troubles is to rub on the groin
the foam from the mouth of a horse. The groin also
swells because of sores ; the remedy is to tie within
the sore three horse hairs with three knots.

LXII. Gout is benefited by bear's grease and bull Forgout
suet with an equal weight of wax as well ; to which compiaiZts.
some add liypocisthis and gall nut. Others prefer
he-goat suet with the dung of a she-goat and with
saffron, mustard,0 pounded stalks of ivy, and perdi-
cium or the blossom of wild cucumber. Highly
praised also is ox dung with lees of vinegar and the
dung of a calf that has not yet tasted grass, or, by
itself, the blood of a bull, a fox boiled down alive until
onlv the bones remain, or a wolf boiled alive in oil as
though to make a wax-salve, he-goat's suet with an
equal quantity of helxine, a third part of mustard,
calcined goat's dung and axle-grease. Moreover, to
put a burning-hot poultice of this dung under the big
toes is said to be excellent for sciatica, and bear's gall
very useful for diseases of the joints, as are also the
feet of a hare worn as an amulet, while gouty pains
are alleviated by a hare's foot, cut offfrom the living
animal, if the patient carries it about continuously on
the person. Chilblains and all chaps on the feet are
healed by bear's grease, more efficaciously with the
addition of alum, by goat suet, by a horse's teeth
ground to powder, by the gall and fat of a wild boar
or pig, by the lung applied to them even if they are
chafed or broken by a knock, but if they are frost bites,
by a hare's fur reduced to ash ; if they are broken.

149

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

222 aut pulmonis cinis. sole adusta sebo asinino aptis-
sime curantur, item bubulo cum rosaceo. clavos et
rimas callique vitia fimum apri vel suis recens inlitum
ac tertio die solutum sanat, talorum cinis, pulmo
aprinus aut suillus aut cervinus, adtritus calciamen-
torum urina asini cum luto suo inlita, clavos sebum
bubulum cum turis polline, perniones vero corium
conbustum, melius si ex vetere calciamento, iniurias

223 e calceatu ex oleo corii caprini cinis. varicum
dolores sedat fimi vitulini cinis cum lilii bulbis de-
coctus addito melle modico, itemque omnia inrlam-
mata et suppurationes minantia. eadem res et
podagris prodest et articulariis morbis, e maribus
praecipue vitulis, articulorum adtritis fel aprorum
vel suum linteo calefacto inpositum, vituli qui nondum
herbam gustaverit fimum, item caprinum cum melle
in aceto decoctum. ungues scabros sebum vituli
emendat, item caprinum admixta sandaraca. verru-
cas vero aufert fimi vitulini cinis ex aceto, asini urina
et lutum.

224 LXIII. Comitiali morbo testes ursinos edisse pro-
dest vel aprunos bibisse ex lacte equino aut ex
aqua, item aprunam urinam ex aceto mulso, efficacius
quae inaruerit in vesica sua. dantur et suum testi-
culi inveterati tritique in suis lacte, praecedente vini
abstinentia et sequente continuis ^denis)1 diebus,
dantur et leporis sale custoditi pulmones cum turis

225 tertia parte in vino albo per dies XXX, item coagula

1 denis coni. Mayhoff : om.coM.

a It appears likely that the d of diebus has led to the
oinission of a sign for decem or denis.

'5°

BOOK XXVIII. lxii. 221-lxiii. 225

by the lung of the same animal cut up or reduced to
ash. Sun burns are most beneficially treated by ass
suet, and also bv suet of an ox or cow with rose oil.
Corns, chaps, and calluses are cured by an application
of fresh wild-boar's dung, or pig's, taken off on the
third day, by their pastern bones reduced to ashes,
by the lung of wild boar, pig, or deer ; chafing from
shoes by the application of an ass's urine with the
mud made by it ; corns by beef suet with powdered
frankincense ; chilblains, however, by burnt leather,
if from an old shoe so much the better, sores from
foot-wear by the ash of goat leather in oil. The pains
of varicose veins are alleviated by the ash of calf 's
dung boiled down with the bulbs of a lily, with the
addition of a little honey, and so are all inflamed
places that threaten to suppurate. The same pre-
paration is good for gout and diseases of the joints,
especiallv if it is taken from a male calf, for chafed
joints the gall of wild boars or of pigs applied in a
heated linen cloth, the dung of a calf that has not
tasted grass, also the dung of goats boiled down in
vinegar with honey. Scabrous nails are cured by
veal suet, also by goat suet mixed with sanderach.
Warts however are removed by the ash of calf 's dung
in vinegar, or by the urine with its mud of an ass.

LXIII. For epilepsy it is beneficial to eat a bear's Farepiiepsy.
testes or to take those of a wild boar in mare's milk or
water, likewise wild-boar's urine in oxymel, with
increased efficacy if it has dried in his bladder. There
are also given the testicles of pigs dried and pounded
in sow's milk, abstinence from wine preceding and
following for <ten) ° days. There are also given the
lungs of a hare preserved in salt, with a third part of
frankincense, taken in white wine for thirty days ;

151

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

eiusdem, asini cerebrum ex aqua mulsa, infumatum
prius in foliis, semuncia per dies (V,y vel * ungularum
eius cinis coclearibus binis toto mense potus, item
testes sale adservati et inspersi potioni in asinarum
maxime lacte vel ex aqua. membrana partus eaium,
praecipue si marem pepererint, olefactata accedente
morbo comitialium resistit. sunt qui e mare nigroque
cor edendum cum pane sub diu prima aut secunda
luna praecipiant, alii carnem, aliqui sanguinem

226 aceto dilutum per dies XL bibendum. quidam
urinam aquae ferrariae ex officinis miscent eademque
potione et lymphatis medentur. comitialibus datur
et lactis equini potus lichenque in aceto mulso biben-
dus, dantur et carnes caprinae in rogo hominis tostae,
ut volunt Magi, sebum earum cum felle taurino pari
pondere decoctum et in folliculo fellis reconditum ita
ne terram attingat, potum vero ex aqua sublime.
morbum ipsum deprehendit caprini cornus vel cervini
usti nidor. sideratis urina pulli asinini nardo admixto
perunctione prodesse dicitur.

227 LXIV. Regio morbo cornus cervini cinis, sanguis
asini ex vino, item fimum asinini pulli quod primum
edidit a partu datum fabae magnitudine e vino

1 V, vel Hard. : vel Detlefsen, codd. : VII Mayhoff.

a Again, the v of vel has led to the omission of the numeral.

6 In Cato (LXX and LXXI) stare sublime means " to stand
upright." For an epileptic to do so might be difficult.

c Neither Littre nor the Bohn translator comments on this
vague sentence. It is not clear how the presence of epilepsy
is detected by this test. Possibly a fit is diagnosed as epileptic
according as it reacts to the treatment.

d See II. § 108. Sometimes sunstroke may be referred to
by this term. Manv expressions in this chapter are curious.
\Vhv for instance botfa testes and testicuW! Morbo comitialium

J52

BOOK XXVIII. lxiii. 225-Lxiv. 227

likewise a hare's rennet, an ass's brain in hydromel,
first smoked on burning leaves, half an ounce a day
for <(five) ° days, or an ass's hoofs reduced to ash and
two spoonfuls taken in drink for a whole month, like-
wise his testes preserved in salt and sprinkled on
drink, preferably on ass's milk, or on water. The
odour of the after-birth of she-asses, especially if
they have had a male foal, inhaled on the approach
of a fit, repels it. There are some who recommend
eating witti bread the heart of a black jackass in the
open air on the first or second day of the moon, some
ttie flesh, others drinking for forty days the blood
diluted with vinegar. Certain people mix an ass's
urine with smithy water in which hot iron has been
dipped, and use the same draught to treat delirious
raving. To epileptics is also given mare's milk to
drink, the excrescence on a horse's leg taken in
oxymel ; there is given too goat's flesh roasted on a
funeral pyre, as ttie Magi would have it, goat suet
boiled down with an equal weight of bull's gall stored
in the gall bladder without touching the earth, and
taken in water with the patient standing upright.6
The disease itself is detected by the fumes of burnt
goat's horn or deer's horn.c Rubbing with the
urine of an ass's foal mixed with nard is said to be
beneficial to the planet-struck.d

LXIV. Jaundice is cured within two days by por
deer's horn reduced to ash, by the blood of an ass, Ja""di^-
likewise by the dung of an ass's foal, the first to pass
after birth/ of the size of a bean and taken in wine.

is strange, and so is the apparent omission on two oceasions
of a nunieral. One may add the vagueness rcferred to in
note (c).
' See § 200.

PLINY: NATLRAL HISTORY

medetur intra diem tcrtium. eadem et ex equino
pullo similiterque x vis est.

LXY. Fractis ossibus praesentaneus maxillarum
apri cinis vel suis, item lardum elixum atque circum-
ligatum mira celeritate solidat. costis quidem fractis
laudatur unice caprinum fimum ex vino vetere, aperit,
extrahit, persanat.

228 LXYI. Febres arcet cervorum caro. ut diximus, eas
quidem quae certo dierum numero redeunt oculus
lupi dexter salsus adalligatusque, si credimus Magis.
est genus febrium quod amphemerinon vocant. hoc
liberari tradunt, si quis e vena auris asini tres guttas
sanguinis in duabus heminis aquae hauserit. quar-
tanis Magi excrementa felis cum digito bubonis
adalligari iubent, et ne recidant non removeri 2 sep-

229 teno circumitu. quis hoc, quaeso, invenire potuit ?
quae est ista mixtura ? cur digitus potissimum bubonis
electus est ? modestiores iocur felis decrescente
luna occisae inveteratum sale ex vino bidendum
ante accessiones quartanae dixere. iidem Magi fimi
bubuli cinere consperso puerorum urina inlinunt digi-
tos pedum manuumque.3 leporis cor adalligant. co-
agulum ante accessiones propinant. datur et caseus
caprinus recens cum melle diligenter sero expresso.

230 LXVII. Melancholicis fimum vituli in vino decoc-
tum remedio est. lethargicos excitat asini lichen

1 similiterque codd. et edd. : similiter vel fimi similiter dati
coni. Mayhojf.

2 Hic addendum nisi coni. Mayhoff.

3 manuumque Mayhoff : manibusque rnhj. Detlefsen, d:
manuusque VRE : mausque r.

a Probably : removes any diseased matter before healing
takes place.

b See VIII. §119.

*54

BOOK XXVIII. lxiv. 227-Lxvii. 230

The first dung too of a young colt, administered in a
similar way, has the same effect.

LXV. For broken bones a sovereign remedy is the £"«■ brokm
ash of the jaw-bone of a wild boar or of a pig ; likewise
boiled bacon-fat, tied round the fracture, heals with
marvellous rapidity. For broken ribs however the
highest praise is given to goat's dung in old wine ;
it opens, extracts,a and completely heals.

LXVI. Fevers are kept away by the flesh of deer, Forfevers.
as I have said,b those indeed which return at fixed
intervals by the salted right eye of a wolf worn as an
amulet, if we are to believe the Magi. There is a
kind of fever called " amphemerinos." c It is said
that he is freed from this who drinks three drops of
blood from an ass's ear in two heminae of water. For
quartans the Magi prescribe the excrement of a cat
with the claw of a horned owl worn as an amulet, and
to prevent a relapse the amulet should not be removed
before the seventh periodic return. Who pray could
have made this diseovery ? What sort of combination
is this ? Why was an owl's claw chosen rather than
anything else ? Some more moderate people have
prescribed the salted liver of a cat killed when the
moon is on the wane, to be taken in wine before the
access of a quartan. The Magi also apply to the
toes and fingers ox or cow dung reduced to ash and
sprinkled with children's urine. They use the heart
of a hare as an amulet, and give hare's rennet before
each access. There is also given with honey fresh
goat's cheese with the whey carefully pressed out.

LXVII. A remedy for melancholia a is calfs dung Formeian-
boiled down in wine. Victims of lethargy d are cet°hargy and

consump-
e Greek for quotidian, i.e. returning every day. tion.

d See List of Diseases.

155

PLINY: XATURAL HISTORY

liarihus inlitus ex aceto, caprini cornus nidor aut
pilorum, iocur aprunum. itaque et veternosis datur.
phthisicis medentur iocur lupi ex vino macro, suis
feminae herbis pastae laridum, carnes asininae ex
iure sumptae. hoc genere maxime in Achaia curant
id malum. fimi quoque aridi sed pabulo viridi pasto
bove fumum harundine haustum prodesse tradunt,
bubuli cornus mucronem exustum duorum coclearium
mensura addito melle pilulis devoratis. caprae sebo

231 in pulte alicacia et phthisim et tussim sanari, vel
recenti, cum mulso liquefacto, ita ut uncia in cyathum
addatur rutaeque ramo permisceatur, non pauci tra-
dunt. rupicaprae sebi cyatho et lactis pari mensura
deploratum phthisicum convaluisse certus auctor
adfirmat. sunt et qui suum fimi cinerem profuisse
scripserint in passo et cervi pulmonem, maxime subu-
lonis, siccatum in x fumo tritumque in vino.

232 LXVIII. Hydropicis auxiliatur urina e vesica capri
paulatim data in potu, efficacius quae inaruerit cum
vesica sua, fimi taurini maxime, sed et bubuli — de
armentivis loquor, quod bolbiton vocant — cinis
coclearium trium in mulsi hemina, bovis feminae in
mulieribus, ex altero sexu in viris, quod veluti myste-
rium occultarunt Magi, fimum vituli masculi inlitum,
fimi vitulini cinis cum semine staphylini, aequa

1 in del. Mayhoff,

° Perhaps " certain." b For subulo see XI. § 213.

156

BOOK XXVIII. lxvii. 230-Lxvm. 232

aroused by applying to the nostrils in vinegar the
excrescence on the leg of an ass, by the fumes from
goat's horns or goat's hair, and by wild boar's liver ;
accordingly it is also administered to the comatose.
Consumptives are benefited by wolfs liver in thin
wine, by the lard of a sow fed on herbs, and by ass's
flesh taken in its gravy. This treatment for the
complaint is very popular in Achaia. The smoke also
from dried dung of an ox fed on green fodder, inhaled
through a reed, is said to be beneficial, or the burnt
tip of the horn of an ox, the dose being two spoon-
fuls, with the addition of honey, swallowed in pills.
It is held by not a few authorities that by she-goat's
suet in groat porridge consumption and cough are
cured, or bv fresh suet melted with honey wine, an
ounce of suet added to a cyathus of wine and stirred
with a spray of rue. An authoritative ° writer
assures us that a despaired-of consumptive has re-
covered by being treated with a cyathus of mountain-
goat suet and the same amount of the milk. Some
have written that pig's dung reduced to ash, taken in
raisin wine, has proved of value, or the lung of a stag,
especially a subulo,5 dried in smoke and pounded in
wine.

LXVIII. Good for dropsy is urine from the bladder Fordropty.
of a wild boar given little by little in the drink, that
being more beneficial which has dried up with its
bladder, the ash of bull's dung especially but also
that of oxen — herd animals I mean ; it is called
bolbiton — three spoonfuls in a hemina of honey
wine, cow dung for women, bull dung for men (the
Magi have made a sort of mystery of this distinction),
the dung of a bull calf applied locally, ash of calf dung
with staphylinus seed in equal proportions taken in

157

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

portione ex vino, sanguis caprinus cum medulla.
emcaciorem putant liircinum utique si lentisco
pascantur.

233 LXIX. Igni sacro ursinus adips inlinitur, maxime
qui est ad renes, vitulinum fimum recens vel bubulum,
caseus caprinus siccus cum porro, ramenta pellis
cervinae desecta pumice ex aceto trita, rubori cum
prurigine equi spuma aut ungulae cinis, eruptionibus
pituitae asinini fimi cinis cum butyro, papulis nigris
caseus caprinus siccus ex melle et aceto in balneis,
oleo remoto, pusulis suilli fimi cinis aqua inlitus vel

234 cornus cervini cinis, LXX. luxatis recens fimum
aprinum vel suillum, item vitulinum, verris spuma
recens cum aceto, fimum caprinum cum melle, bubula
caro inposita, ad tumores fimum suillum in testo
calefactum tritumque cum oleo. duritias corporum
omnes tollit optime adips e lupis inlitus. in his quae
rumpere opus est plurimum proficit fimum bubulum
in cinere calefactum aut caprinum in vino vel aceto
decoctum, in furunculis sebum bubulum cum sale aut,
si dolores sint, cum oleo liquefactum sine sale, simili

235 modo caprinum, LXXI. in ambustis ursinus adips cum
lilii radicibus, aprunum aut suillum fimum invetera-
tum, saetarum ex his e penicillis tectoriis cinis cum
adipe tritus, tali bubuli cinis cum cera et medulla cer-
vina, fel tauri, fimum leporis, sed caprarum fimum *

236 sine cicatrice sanare dicitur. glutinum praestantissi-
mum fit ex auribus taurorum et genitalibus, nec quic-

1 finium] " an fimi cinis ? " Mayhoff.

a The punctuation of Mayhoff is attractive. He puts a
full stop before sine and after glutinum, removing the one
after dicitur. It has the support of Pliny Junior, but fimum

158

BOOK XXVIII. lxviii. 232-Lxxi. 236

wine, and goat's blood with goat's marrow. That of
a he-goat is considered more beneficial, especially if
he has browsed on lentisk.

LXIX. There is applied for erysipelas bear's fat, For variou
especially that on the kidneys, fresh dung of calves dumses.
or cattle, dried goat's cheese with leek, scrapings
of deer's skin rubbed off with pumice and pounded
in vinegar. For inflamed itch the foam of a horse
or the ash of his hoof ; for pituitous eruptions ass's
dung reduced to ash with butter ; for black pimples
dried goat's cheese in honey and vinegar, applied
in the bath, no oil being used, for pustules pig's
dung reduced to ash and applied in water, or the
ash of deer's horn, LXX. for dislocations the fresh Fordisio-
dung of wild boar or of pig, or of calves, the fresh ^uralionT
foam of a boar with vinegar, the dung of a goat with burns-
honey, an application of beef, and for swellings pig's
dung warmed in an earthen pot and beaten up
with oil. All indurations of the body are best
removed bv an application of wolf 's fat. In the case
of sores that need to break the most beneficial
application is ox dung warmed on hot cinders or
goat's dung boiled down in wine or vinegar, for boils
beef suet with salt, or if there is pain melted with oil
without salt, similarly with goat suet ; LXXI. for
burns bear's grease with lily roots, dried dung of wild
boar or of pig, the ash of pig's bristles from plasterers'
brushes beaten up with pig fat, the ash of the pastern
bone of bull or cow with wax and deer marrow, bull's
gall,hare's dung ; but the dung of she-goats is said to
heal without a scar.° The finest glue is made from
the ears and genitals of bulls, and there is no better

leporis sed caprarum fimum contains a strange repetition of
fimum.

159

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

quam efficacius prodest ambustis, sed adulteratur nihil
aeque, quibusvis pellibus inveteratis calciamentisque
etiam decoctis. Rhodiacum iidelissimum, eoque pic-
tores et medici utuntur. id quoque quo candidius eo
probatius, nigrum et lignosum damnatur.

237 LXXII. Nervorum doloribus fimum caprinum de-
coctum in aceto cum melle utilissimum putant vel
putrescente nervo. spasmata et percussu vitiata
fimo apruno curant vere collecto et arefacto, sic et
quadrigas agentes tractos rotave vulneratos et quoquo

238 modo sanguine contuso, vel si recens inlinatur. sunt
qui incoxisse aceto utilius putent. quin et in potu
farinam eam ruptis convulsisque et eversis ex aceto
salutarem promittunt. recentiores * cinerem eius
ex aqua bibunt, feruntque et Neronem principem hac
potione recreari solitum, cum sic quoque se trigario
adprobare vellet. proximam suillo fimo vim putant.

239 LXXIII. Sanguinem sistit coagulum cervinum ex
aceto, item leporis, huius quidem et pilorum cinis,
item ex fimo asini cinis inlitus, efficacior vis e maribus
aceto admixto et in lana ad omne profluvium inposito,
similiter ex equino, capitis et feminum aut fimi vitu-
lorum cinis inlitus ex aceto, item caprini cornus vel

1 recentiores Hard. : reverentiores codd.

" With the reading of the MSS., " more cautious."
l6o

BOOK XXVIII. lxxi. 236-Lxxm. 239

remedy for burns, but it is more adulterated than any
other, a decoction being made from any old skins and
even from shoes. The most reliable glue comes from
Rhodes, which is used by painters and physicians.
The Rhodian too is the more approved the whiter it
is; the dark and wood-like is rejected.

LXXII. It is thought that for pains in the sinews, Forstrains,
even if pus is present there, the most beneficial sPrains>

. , r . , , ruptures.

remedy is a decoction 01 goat s dung in vinegar with
honey. Strains and injuries from a blow are treated
with wild-boar's dung collected in spring and dried ;
the same remedy is also good for charioteers who
have been dragged along, or wounded bv a wheel, or
bruised in any way, even if the dung is applied while
fresh. There are some who think it more beneficial
to boil the dung in vinegar. Moreover, they assure
us that this dung, reduced to powder and taken in
drink, is curative of ruptures and sprains ; for falls
from vehicles it should be taken in vinegar. The
more recent authorities a reduce it to ash and take
in water, saying that even the Emperor Nero used
to refresh himself with this draught, since he was
ready even by this means to distinguish himself in
the three-horse chariot-race. They think that the
next most efficacious dung is that of pigs.

LXXIII. Bleeding is stayed by deer's rennet in Forhaemor-
vinegar, by hare's also, by the latter reduced to ash Thage-
with the fur, also by the application of ass's dung
reduced to ash — the effect is more powerful if the ass
is male, vinegar mixed with the ash, and wool used
for the application to any haemorrhage, horse dung
being similarly used, by the head and thighs,
or dung, of calves, reduced to ash and applied in
vinegar, also by the ash in vinegar of goat's horn

161

VOL. VIII. G

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

240 fimi ex aceto. hircini vero iocineris dissecti sanies
efficacior, et cinis utriusque 2 ex vino potus vel naribus
ex aceto inlitus, hircini quoque utris, vinarii dum-
taxat, cinis cum pari pondere resinae, quo genere
sistitur sanguis et vulnus glutinatur. haedinum quo-
que coagulum ex aceto et feminum eius combustorum
cinis similiter pollere traduntur.

241 LXXIV. Ulcera sanat in tibiis cruribusque ursinus
adips admixta rubrica, quae vero serpunt fel aprunum
cum resina et cerussa, maxillarum apri vel suum cinis,
fimum suum inlitum siccum, item caprinum ex aceto
subactum et subfervefactum.2 cetera purgantur et
explentur butyro, cornus cervini cinere vel medulla
cervi, felle taurino cum cyprino aut fimo hircino.3
fimum recens suum vel inveterati farina inlinitur vul-
neribus ferro factis. phagedaenis et fistulis inmittitur
fel tauri cum suco porri aut lacte mulierum vel sanguis

242 aridus cum cotyledone herba. carcinomata curat co-
agulum leporis cum pari pondere capparis adspersum
vino, gangraenas ursinum fel pinna inlitum, asini un-
gularum cinis ea quae serpunt ulcera inspersus.
sanguis equi adrodit carnes septica vi, item fimi
equini inveterati favilla, ea vero quae phagedaenas
vocant in ulcerum genere corii bubuli cinis cum melle.
caro vituli recentia vulnera non patitur intumescere.

243 fimum bubulum cum melle, fimi vitulini cinis sordida

1 An sexus excidit ?

2 subactum et subfervefactum Mayhoff ex Plinio Iuniore et
Marcello : subfervefactum codd.

3 aut fimo hircino Detlefsen : oleo aut irino Mayhojf ex
Plinio Iuniore cum cod. d : varia codd.

For sanies see Celsus, V. 26, 20.
Has sexus fallen out here ?

162

BOOK XXVIII. lxxiii. 239-Lxxiv. 243

or dung. The sanies,0 however, exuding from he-
goat's liver when cut up is more efficacious, as is
the liver of goats of either sex,6 reduced to ash and
taken in wine or applied to the nostrils in vinegar, or
the leather of a he-goat, but only that of a wine bottle,
reduced to ash and with an equal weight of resin, by
wliich remedy bleeding is stayed and the wound
closed. Kid's rennet also in vinegar and kid's thighs
burnt to ash are reported to be similarly effective.

LXXIV. Ulcers on the shins or shanks are healed Fortdcers
by bear's grease mixed with ruddle, but spreading a flstulae'
ulcers by wild boar's gall with resin and white lead,
by the jaw-bones of wild boars or pigs reduced to
ash, by the application of dried pigs'-dung, also by
goat's dung, kneaded in vinegar and warmed.
The other kinds of sores are cleansed and filled up
by butter, by the ash of deer's horn or by deer's
marrow, by bull's gall with cyprus oil or he-goat's
dung.c To wounds inflicted with iron is applied
pigs' dung, either fresh or dried and powdered.
Injected into phagedaenic ulcers and fistulas is
bull's gall with juice of leek or woman's milk, or else
dried blood with the herb cotyledon. Cancerous
sores are treated with hare's rennet and an equal
weight of caper sprinkled in wine, gangrenes by
bear's gall applied with a feather, spreading ulcers
by the ash of ass's hoofs sprinkled over them. Flesh
is eaten away by the corrosive action of horse's blood
and by the ash of dried horse-dung, but the ulcers
coming under the class they call phagedaenic by the
ash of oxhide with honey. Veal prevents fresh
wounds from swelling. Foul ulcers and those called
malignant are healed by dung of ox or cow with

e With MayhofFs reading : " cyprus oil and iris oil."

163

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

ulcera et quae cacoethe vocant e lacte mulieris sanant,
recentes plagas ferro inlatas glutinum taurinum lique-
factum, tertio die solutum. caseus caprinus siccus ex
aceto ac melle purgat ulcera, quae vero serpant
cohibet sebum cum cera, item addita pice ac sulpure
percurat. similiter proticit ad cacoethe haedi femi-
num cinis e lacte mulieris et adversus carbunculos suis
feminae cerebrum tostum inlitumque.

244 LXXV. Scabiem hominis asininae medullae maxime
abolent et urina * eiusdem cum suo 2 luto inlita,3
butyrum etiam quod in iumentis proficit cum resina
calida, glutinum taurinum in aceto liquefactum addita
calce, fel caprinum cum aluminis cinere, bovas fimum
bubulum, unde et nomen traxere. canum scabies
sanatur bubulo sanguine recenti iterumque, cum
inarescat, inlito et postero die abluto cinere lixivo.

245 LXXVI. Spinae et similia corpori extrahuntur felis
excrementis, item caprae ex vino, coagulo quocum-
que, sed maxime leporis, cum turis polline et oleo aut
cum visci pari pondere aut cum propoli. cicatrices
nigras sebum asininum reducit ad colorem, fel vituli
extenuat calefactum. medici adiciunt murram et
mel et crocum aereaque puxide condunt. aliqui et
florem aeris admiscent.

246 LXXVII. Mulierum purgationes adiuvat fel tauri
in lana sucida adpositum — Olympias Thebana addidit
oesypum 4 et nitrum — cornus cervini cinis potus, item

1 urina Mayhoff : urinae codd., Detlejsen.

2 suo codd. : suillo Urlichs, Detlcjsen.

3 inlita MayhoJJ : inlitae Detlejsen : inlito codd.

4 oesypum vet. Dal. ex Dioscoride, MayhoJJ : hysopum
Detlejsen, codd.

a Bovae = " ox disease."
164

BOOK XXVIII. lxxiv. 243-Lxxvii. 246

honey, or by the ash of calf 's dung in woman's milk,
fresh wounds inflicted with iron by melted bull's
glue, which is taken off on the third dav. Ulcers
are cleansed bv dry goat's-cheese in vinegar and
honey, while spreading ulcers are checked by goat
suet with wax, and the addition of pitch and sulphur
makes the cure complete. In a similar way malignant
ulcers are improved by the ash of a kid's thighs in
woman's milk, and for carbuncles are used a sow's
brains, roasted and applied.

LXXY. For itch in men the best cure is the Foritch.
marrow of the ass, or ass's urine applied with its own
mud, butter likewise, which with warm resin also
benefits itch in draught animals, bull glue melted
in vinegar and with lime added, goat gall with the
ash of alum ; ox or cow dung is good for bovae,a
whence comes the name of the disease. Itch in dogs
is cured by the fresh blood of ox or cow, applied again
when it is dry, and on the following day washed off
with lye ash.

LXXVI. Thorns and similar objects are extracted Forthoms,
by a cat's excrements, also by a she-goat's in wine, juZh™1
by any kind of rennet but especially by hare's with
powdered frankincense and oil, or else with an equal
weight of mistletoe, or with bee glue. Black scars
are brought back to the original colour by ass's suet,
and made fainter by warmed calf 's gall. Physicians
add myrrh, honey and saffron, and keep in a bronze
box ; some add to the mixture flower of bronze.b

LXXVII. The purgings of women are aided by Forfemaie
bull's gall applied as a pessary in unwashed wool — compiamts.
Olympias, a woman of Thebes added suint and soda
— by ash of deer's horn taken in drink, and uterine
6 Red oxide of copper.

165

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

vulva laborantes inlitus quoque et fel taurinum cum
opio adpositum obolis binis. vulvas et pilo cervino
suffire prodest. tradunt cervas, cum senserint se
gravidas, lapillum devorare, quem in excrementis
repertum aut in vulva — nam et ibi invenitur — custo-

247 dire partus adalligatum. inveniuntur et ossicula in
corde et in vulva perquam utilia gravidis parturienti-
busque. nam de pumice quae in vaccarum utero
simili modo invenitur diximus in natura boum. lupi
adips inlitus vulvas mollit, dolores earum iocur. car-
nes lupi edisse parituris prodest, aut si incipientibus
parturire sit iuxta qui ederit, adeo ut etiam contra in-

248 latas noxias valeat. eundem supervenire pernitiosum
est . magnus et leporis usus mulieribus. vulvas adiu-
vat pulmo aridus potus, profluvia iocur cum Samia
terra ex aqua potum, secundas coagulum — caventur
pridiana balnea — inlitum quoque cum croco et porri
suco, in * vellere adpositum abortus mortuos expellit.
si vulva leporum in cibis sumatur, mares concipi put-
ant, hoc et testiculis eorum et coagulo profici, concep-
tum leporis utero exemptum his quae parere desierint

249 restibilem fecunditatem adferre. sed pro conceptu 2
leporis saniem et viro Magi propinant, item virgini

1 in add. Mayhoff.

2 sed pro conceptu E r d, Detlefsen : sic conceptus Mayhoff.

a See XI. § 203. * Possibly " eat."

166

BOOK XXVIII. lxxvii. 246-249

troubles by an application also of this, and by two-
oboli pessaries of bull's gall and poppy juice. It is
beneficial also to fumigate the uterus with deer's
hair. It is reported that hinds, when they realise
that they are pregnant, swallow a little stone which,
found in their excrements or in the uterus — for it
is found there also — prevents miscarriage if worn
as an amulet. There are also found in the heart
and in the uterus little bones that are very useful
to women who are pregnant or in child-bed. But
about the pumice-like stone which in a similar way
is found in the uterus of cows I have spoken when
dealing with the nature of oxen.a The uterus is
softened by an application of wolf 's fat, pains there
by wolf 's liver, but to have eaten b the flesh of the
wolf is beneficial for women near deliverv, or at
the beginning of labour the near presence of one
who has eaten it, so much so that sorceries put
upon the woman are counteracted. But for such a
person to enter during delivery is a deadly danger.
The hare is also of great use to women. The uterus
is benefited by the dried lung taken in drink, fluxes
by the liver taken in water with Samian earth, the
after-birth is eased by hare's rennet — the bath must
be avoided the day before — by the rennet applied also
with saffron and leek juice; a pessary of it in raw
wool brings away a dead foetus. If the uterus of the
hare is taken in food, it is believed that males are
conceived ; that the same result is obtained by eating
its testicles and rennet ; that the foetus of a hare,
taken from its uterus, brings a renewed fertility to
women who are passed child-bearing. But the
sanies of a hare is given by the Magi even to the
male partner that conception may occur, and likewise

167

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

vi iii grana fimi ut stent perpetuo mammae. coagulo
quoque ob id cum melle inlinunt, sanguinem ubi evol-
sos pilos renasci nolunt. inflationi vulvae fimum
aprunum suillumve cum oleo inlini prodest. efficacius
sistit farina aridi, ut aspergatur potioni, vel si gravidae

250 aut puerperae torqueantur. lacte suis poto cum
mulso adiuvantur partus mulierum, per se vero potum
deficientia ubera puerperarum replet. eadem cir-
cumlita sanguine feminae suis minus crescent. si
dolent, lactis asinini potu mulcentur, quod addito
melle sumptum et purgationes earum adiuvat. sanat
et vulvarum exulcerationes eiusdem animalis sebum
inveteratum et in vellere adpositum duritias vulvarum
emollit. per se vero recens vel inveteratum ex aqua

251 inlitum psilotri vim optinet. eiusdem animalis lien
inveteratus ex aqua inlitus mammis abundantiam
facit, vulvas suffitu corrigit. ungulae asininae suffitio
partum maturat ut vel abortus evocetur, nec aliter
adhibentur, quoniam viventem partum necant. eius-
dem animalis fimum si recens inponatur, profluvia
sanguinis mire sedare dicitur, nec non et cinis eiusdem

252 fimi, qui et vulvae prodest inpositus. equi spuma
inlita per dies XL prius quam primum nascantur pili
restinguntur, item cornus cervini decocto, melius, si
recentia sint cornua. lacte equino iuvantur vulvae
collutae. quod si mortuus partus sentiatur, lichen

a Probably " fresh," " from a <lcer just killed."
168

BOOK XXVIII. lxxvii. 249-252

to a maiden nine pellets of hare's droppings to make
the breasts permanently firm. They also use for this
purpose the rennet with honey as liniment, and the
blood to prevent hairs plucked out from growing
again. For inflation of the uterus it is benehcial to
make with oil a liniment of wild boar's dung or pig's.
More efficacious is the dried dung reduced to powder
to sprinkle in the drink, even if the woman is suffering
the pains of pregnancy or child-birth. By drinking
sow's milk with honey wine child-birth is eased, while
taken by itself it refills the drying breasts of nursing
mothers. These swell less if rubbed round with a
sow's blood. If they are painful thev are soothed bv
drinking ass's milk, which taken with the addition of
honey is also beneficial for the purgings of women.
Ulcerations also of the uterus are healed by the dried
suet of the same animal, which applied in raw wool
as a pessary softens uterine indurations, while by itself
either fresh or dried suet, applied in water, acts as a
depilatory. Dried ass's spleen, applied in water to
the breasts, produces an abundant supply of milk,
and used in fumigation corrects displacement of the
uterus. Fumigation with ass's hoofs hastens de-
livery, so that even a dead foetus is extracted ; only
then is the treatment applied, for it kills a living
infant. Ass's dung applied fresh is said to be a
wonderful reliever of fluxes of blood, as is also the
ash of the same dung, an application which is also
beneficial to the uterus. By horse's foam, applied
for forty days before they tirst grow, hairs are
prevented, also by a decoction of deer's horns, which
is more benencial if the horns are new.° It is
beneflcial to wash out the uterus with mare's milk.
But if the foetus is felt to be dead, it is expelled by

169

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

equae e dulci potus eicit, item ungula suffitu aut
fimum aridum. vulvas procidentes butyrum infusum
sistit. induratam vulvam aperit fel bubulum rosaceo
admixto, foris vellere cum resina terebinthina in-

253 posito. aiunt et suffitu fimi e mari bove procidentes
vulvas reprimi, partus adiuvari, conceptus vero
vaccini lactis potu. sterilitatem a partus vexatione
fieri certum est. hanc emendari Olympias Thebana
adfirmat felle taurino et adipe serpentium et aerugine
ac melle medicatis locis ante coitus. vitulinum quo-
que fel in purgationibus sub coitu adspersum vulvae
etiam duritias ventris x emollit et profluvium minuit
umbilico peruncto atque in totum vulvae prodest.

254 modum statuunt fellis pondere denarii, opii tertiam
admixto amygdalino oleo quantum satis esse ap-
pareat, haec in vellere inponunt. masculi fel vituli
cum mellis dimidio tritum servatur ad vulvas. car-
nem vituli si cum aristolochia inassatam edant circa
conceptum, mares parituras promittunt. medulla
vituli in vino et aqua decocta cum sebo exulcerationi-
bus vulvarum inposita prodest, item adips vulpium
excrementumque felium, hoc cum resina et rosaceo

255 inpositum. caprino cornu suffiri vulvam utilissimum
putant. silvestrium caprarum sanguis cum palma
marina pilos detrahit, ceterarum vero fel callum

1 ventris codd., Detlefsen : veteres Mayhoff.

a MayhofPs emendation of ventris to veteres (" chronic
indurations of the uterus ") is attractivc because it allows
vulvae to be taken with duritias, and also avoids the appar-
ently irrelevant introduction of ventris in a list of female
complaints. On the other hand, with tbi.s reading one would
expect etiam to come immediately before veteres. Perhaps
ventris emphasizes the general efficacy of calfs gall as a
softener.

170

BOOK XXVIII. lxxvii. 252-255

taking in fresh water the excrescence from the leg
of a mare, also by fumigation with the hoof or the
dried dung. An injection of butter stays prolapsus
of the uterus. A hardened uterus is opened by ox
gall mixed with rose oil, with an external application
of terebinth resin on unwashed wool. They say that
prolapsus of the uterus is corrected also by fumigation
with the dung of an ox, that delivery is aided, and
conception also, by drinking cow's milk. It is certain
that sterility may result from sufferings at child-birth.
This kind of barrenness, we are assured by Olympias
of Thebes, is cured by bull's gall, serpents' fat, copper
rust and honey, rubbed on the parts before inter-
course. Calfs gall also, sprinkled on the uterus
during menstruation just before intercourse, softens
even indurations of the bowels,0 checks the flow if
rubbed on the navel, and is generally beneficial to the
uterus. The amount of gall prescribed is a denarius
by weight : this and a third part of poppy juice,
with as much almond oil as seems to be called for.
The mixture is laid on unwashed wool. A bull-caif 's
gall beaten up with half the quantity of honey is
stored away for uterine compiaints. If women
about the time of conception eat roasted veal with
aristolochia, they are assured that they will bring
forth a male child. A calfs marrow, boiled down
in wine and water with calfs suet and applied to
an ulcerated uterus, is beneficial, as is the fat of
foxes with the excrement of cats, the last being
applied with resin and rose oil. It is thought that
to fumigate the uterus with goat's horn is very bene-
ficial. The blood of wild she-goats with sea palm
acts as a depilatory, while of other she-goats the
gall softens callus of the uterus if sprinkled on it,

171

PLINY: NATUllAL HISTORY

vulvarum emollit inspersum et a purgatione con-
ceptus facit. sic quoque psilotri vis efficitur, evulsis
pilis triduo servatur inlitum. profluvium quamvis
inmensum urina caprae pota sisti obstetrices promit-
tunt, et si fimum inlinatur. membrana caprarum in
qua partus editur inveterata potuque sumpta in vino

256 secundas pellit. haedorum pilis suffiri vulvas utile
putant et in profluvio sanguinis coagulum bibi aut
cum l hyoscyami semine inponi. e bove silvestri
nigro si sanguine ricini lumbi perungantur mulieri,
taedium veneris fieri dicit Osthanes, idem amoris
potu hirci urinae admixto propter fastidium nardo.

257 LXXVIII. Infantibus nihil butyro utilius per se et
cum melle, privatim et in dentitione et ad gingivas et
ad oris ulcera. dens lupi adalligatus infantium
pavores prohibet dentiendique morbos, quod et pellis
lupina praestat — dentes quidem eorum maximi equis
quoque adalligati infatigabilem cursum praestare

258 dicuntur. leporum coagulo ubere inlito sistitur infan-
tium alvus. iocur asini admixta modice panace in-
stillatum in os a comitialibus morbis et aliis infantes
tuetur; hoc XL diebus fieri praecipiunt. et pellis
asini iniecta inpavidos infantes facit. dentes qui
equis primum cadunt facilem dentitionem praestant
adalligati infantibus, efficacius, si terram non attigere.

1 Ante hyoscyami add. cum Mayhojf.
172

BOOK XXVIII. lxxvii. 255-Lxxvm. 258

and after a menstvuation causes conception ; such an
application also acts as a depilatory ; after the hairs
are pulled out it is kept on for three days. Midwives
assure us that a flux, however copious, is stayed by
drinking the urine of a she-goat, or if an application
is made of her dung. The membrane that covers the
new-born oifspring of she-goats, kept till dry and
taken in wine, brings away the after-birth. To fumi-
gate the uterus with the hairs of kids is thought to be
beneficial, and it is so for a flux of blood if kid's rennet
is taken in drink, or applied locally with seed of
hyoscyamus. Osthanes says that if the loins of a
woman are rubbed thoroughly with the blood of a
tick from a black wild-buil, she will be disgusted
with sexual intercourse, and also with her love if
she drinks the urine of a he-goat, nard being added
to disguise the foul taste.

LXXVIII. For babies nothing is more beneficial Treatment
than butter, either by itself or with honey, especially
when they are troubled with teething, sore gums, or
ulcerated mouth. The tooth of a wolf tied on as an
amulet keeps away childish terrors and ailments
due to teething, as does also a piece of wolf 's skin.
Indeed the largest teeth of wolves tied as an amulet
even on horses are said to give them unwearied power
of speed. Hare's rennet applied to the mothers'
breasts checks the diarrhoea of babies. Ass's liver
mixed with a moderate amount of panaces and let
drip into the mouth protects babies from epilepsy and
other diseases ; the treatment, it is prescribed, should
continue for forty days. Ass's hide laid 011 babies
keeps them free from fears. The first teeth of horses
to fall out make the cutting of teeth easy for babies
who wear them as an amulet, a more efficacious one

173

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

259 lien bubulus in melle et datur et inlinitur ad lienis
dolores, a.6.1 ulcera manantia cum melle ** lien vituli
in vino decoctus tritusque et inlitus ulcuscula oris.
cerebrum caprae Magi per anulum aureum traiectum
prius quam lac detur infantibus instillant contra
comitiales ceterosque infantium morbos. caprinum
fimum inquietos infantes adalligatum panno cohibet,
maxime puellas. lacte caprino aut cerebro leporum
perunctae gingivae faciles dentitiones faciunt.

260 LXXIX. Somnos fieri lepore sumpto in cibis Cato
arbitrabatur, vulgus et gratiam corpori in VI III dies,
frivolo quidem ioco, cui tamen aliqua debeat subesse
causa in tanta persuasione. Magi felle caprae,
sacrificatae dumtaxat, inlito oculis vel sub pulvino
posito somnum allici dicunt. sudores inhibet cornus
caprini cinis ex myrteo oleo perunctis.

261 LXXX. Coitus stimulat fel aprunum inlitum, item
medullae suum haustae, sebum asininum anseris
masculi adipe admixto inlitum, item a coitu equi a
Vergilio quoque descriptum virus et testiculi equini
aridi ut potioni interi possint dexterve asini testis in
vino potus, portione 2 vel adalligatus bracchiali, eius-
dem a coitu spuma collecta russeo panno et inclusa

262 argento, ut Osthanes tradit. Salpe genitale in oleum
fervens mergi iubet septies eoque perungui perti-

1 ad codd.: sedat Mayhoff : post melle lacunam indicat
Sillig.

2 portione del. Warmington ex potioni ortum. Vide tamen
Onnerfors, Pliniana pp. 166, 167.

a With Mayhoffs reading : " running sores are soothed by
etc."

b The pun is on lepus " hare " and lepos " charm."
r See Georgics III 280.

174

BOOK XXVIII. lxxviii. 259-Lxxx. 262

if the teeth have not touched the ground. Ox
spleen in honey is administered internally and
externally for painful spleen ; for running sores °
with honey . . . a calfs spleen boiled in wine,
beaten up, and applied to little sores in the mouth.
The brain of a she-goat, passed through a golden
ring, is given drop by drop by the Magi to babies,
before they are fed with milk, to guard them from
epilepsy and other diseases of babies. Restless
babies, especially girls, are quietened by an amulet
of goat's dung wrapped in a piece of cloth. Rubbing
the gums with goafs milk or hares' brains makes
easy the cutting of teeth.

LXXIX. Cato thought that to take hare as food is Soporifics.
soporific, and a popular belief is that it also adds
charm to the person for nine days, a flippant pun.6
but so strong a belief must have some justification.
According to the Magi the gall of a she-goat — she
must be an animal sacrificed — induces sleep if applied
to the eyes or placed under the pillow. Sweats are
checked by rubbing the body with myrtle oil and
ash of goat's horn.

LXXX. Aphrodisiacs are : an application of wild-
boar's gall, pig's marrow swallowed, or an application
of ass's suet mixed with a gander's grease ; also the
fluid that Yirgilc too describes as coming from a mare
after copulation, the testicles of a horse, dried so
that they may be powdered into drink, the right
testis of an ass taken in wine, or a portion of it worn
as an amulet on a bracelet ; or the foam of an ass
after copulation, collected in a red cloth and enclosed,
as Osthanes tells us, in silver. Salpe prescribes an
ass's genital organ to be plunged seven times into hot
oil, and the relevant parts to be rubbed therewith,

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

nentes partes, Dalion cinerem ex eodem bibi vel
tauri a coitu urinam, luto ipso inlini pubem. at e
diverso muris * fimo inlito cohibetur virorum venus.
ebrietatem arcet pulmo apri aut suis assus, ieiuni 2
cibo sumptus eo die, item haedinus.

263 LXXXI. Mira praeterea traduntur in isdem
animalibus : vestigium equi excussum ungula, ut
solet plerumque, si quis collectum reponat, singultus
remedium esse recordantibus quonam loco id repo-
suerint, iocur luporum equinae ungulae simile esse et
rumpi equos qui vestigia luporum sub equite sequan-
tur, talis suum discordiae vim quandam inesse, in
incendiis, si fimi aliquid egeratur e stabulis, facilius
extrahi nec recurrere oves bovesque, hircorum carnes

264 virus non resipere, si panem hordeacium eo die quo
interficiantur ederint laserve dilutum biberint, nullas
vero teredinem sentire luna decrescente induratas
sale. adeoque nihil omissum est ut leporem surdum
celerius pinguescere reperiamus, animalium vero

265 medicinas : si sanguis profluat iumentis, suillum
fimum ex vino infundendum, boum autem morbis
sebum, sulpur vivum, alium silvestre concoctum,3 trita
in vino danda aut vulpis adipem ; carnem caballinam

1 muris vulg., Detlefsen : tauri Mayhoff : muri codd. :
fortasse muli.

2 ienuni codd., Detlefsen : ieiunis in C. F. W. Muller,
Mayhoff.

3 concoctum T, Silhg, Detlefsen : ovum crudum Mayhoff,
qui ovum non coctum coni. : ovum coctum vulg.

a With MayhofFs reading : " bulTs."

6 The emendation of C. F. W. Miiller is more normal thau
the readiug of the MSS., but the latter can just be construed
with the same sense.

I76

animals.

BOOK XXVIII. lxxx. 262-Lxxxi. 265

Dalion the ash from it to be taken in drink, or the
urine of a bull after copulation to be drunk, or the
mud itself made by it applied to the pubic parts. On
the other hand antaphrodisiac for men is an applica-
tion of mouse's ° dung. Intoxication is kept away
by the roasted lung of a wild boar or pig, taken in
food the same day on an empty stomach,& or the
lung used may be that of a kid.

LXXXI. In addition, wonderful things are re- Beiiefi about
ported of the same animals c : that if a horse casts
his shoe, as often happens, and some one picks it up
and puts it away, it is a cure of hiccoughs in those
who remember where they have put it ; that a wolf 's
liver is like a horse's hoof ; that horses burst them-
selves which, carrying a rider, follow the tracks of
wolves ; that there is a kind of quarrelsome force in
the pastern bones of pigs ; that if, in case of fire, a
little dung is brought out of the stables, sheep and
oxen are more easily pulled out and do not run
back ; that the flesh of he-goats does not taste
strong if on the day they are killed they have eaten
barley bread or drunk diluted laser d ; that no meat,
salted when the moon is on the wane, is eaten by
maggots. So much care has been taken to leave
nothing out, that I find that a deaf hare fattens more
quickly, and that there are also medicines made for
animals : it is prescribed that if draught cattle suffer
from haemorrhage, there should be injected pig's
dung in wine ; and that for the diseases of oxen
suet, native sulphur, and a decoction of wild garlic,
should all be pounded and given in wine, or else fox

e Or, " also of anirnals."

d Or, " an infusion of laser." It depends whether the juice
or the plant is meant by " laser."

177

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

discoctam potu suum morbis mederi, omnium vero
quadripedum morbis capram solidam cum corio et
rana rubeta discoctam, gallinaceos non attingi a
vulpibus qui iocur animalis eius aridum ederint, vel
si pellicula ex eo collo induta galli inierint, similiter

266 in felle mustelae, boves in Cypro contra tormina
hominum excrementis sibi mederi, non subteri pedes
boum, si prius cornua ima pice liquida perunguantur,
lupos in agrum non accedere, si capti unius pedibus
infractis cultroque adacto paulatim sanguis circa fines
agri spargatur atqne ipse defodiatur in eo loco ex quo

267 coeperit trahi, aut si vomerem quo primus sulcus eo
anno in agro ductus sit excussum aratro focus Larum
quo familia convenit x exurat, lupum nulli animalium
nociturum in eo agro quam diu id fiat. hinc deinde
praevertemur ad animalia sui generis quae aut
placida non sunt aut fera.

1 convenit] conveniet codd., Maykojf.

i78

BOOK XXVIII. lxxxi. 265-267

fat ; that horse flesh thoroughly boiled and taken in
drink cures the diseases of pigs, while those of all
quadrupeds are cured by a she-goat boiled whole
with the hide and a bramble toad ; that chickens are
not touched by foxes if they have eaten dried fox-
liver, or if the cocks have trodden the hens wearing
a piece of fox skin round their necks ; similarly with
a weasel's gall ; that the oxen in Cyprus eat human
excrement to cure themselves of colic ; that the hoofs
of oxen are not chafed underneath if the bases of their
horns are first rubbed with liquid pitch ; that wolves
do not enter a field if one is caught, his legs broken,
a knife driven into the body, the blood sprinkled
a little at a time around the boundaries of that field,
and the body itself buried in that place at which
the dragging of it began ; or if the share, with which
that year the first furrow of that field was cut, is
knocked from the plough and burnt 011 the hearth
of the Lares where the family assemble, a wolf will
harm no animal in that field so long as the custom is
kept up. We will now turn to animals in a peculiar
class by themselves, which are not either tame or
wild.

79

BOOK XXIX

LIBER XXIX

I. Natura remcdiorum atque multitudo instantium
ac praeteritorum plura de ipsa medendi arte cogunt
dicere, quamquam non ignarus sim, nulli ante haec
Latino sermone condita ancepsque iudicium x esse
rerum omnium novarum, talium 2 utique tam sterilis
gratiae tantaeque difficultatis in promendo. sed
quoniam 3 occurrere verisimile est omnium qui haec
noscant cogitationi, quonam modo exoleverint in
medicinae usu quae iam parata atque pertinentia
erant, mirumque et indignum protinus subit nullam
artium inconstantiorem fuisse aut etianmunc saepius
mutari, cum sit fructuosior nulla. dis primum inven-
tores suos adsignavit et caelo dicavit. nec non et
hodie multifariam ab oraculis medicina petitur. auxit
deinde famam etiam crimine, ictum fulmine Aescu-
lapium fabulata, quoniam Tyndareum revocavisset ad
vitam. nec tamen cessavit narrare alios revixisse
opera sua clara Troianis temporibus, quibus fama
certior, vulnerum tamen dumtaxat remediis.

II. Sequentia eius, mirum dictu, in nocte densis-
sima latuere usque ad Peloponnesiacum bellum.

1 iudicium Detlefsen : lubricum Mayhoff : ac lubricum d T.
- t;ilium E Gel., Detlefsen : exordium Mayhoff : et talium
RdTf : et alium r : et italicum V : artium coni. Warmington.
3 quoniam codd., Detlefsen : quaestionem Mayhoff.

a Pliny seems to forget Scriboniue Largus (if he knew him)
and Celsus.
182

BOOK XXIX

I. The nature of remedies, and the great number Eariy
of those already described or waiting to be described, medicine-
compel me to say more about the art of medicine
itself, although I am aware that no one hitherto has
treated the subject in Latin,a and that the judgement
passed on all new endeavours is uncertain, especially

on such as are barren of all charm, and the difficulty
of setting them forth is so great. But since it is
likely to come into the minds of all students of the
subject to ask why ever things ready to hand and
appropriate have become obsolete in medical practice,
the thought occurs at once that it is both a wonder
and a shame that none of the arts has been more
unstable, or even now more often changed, although
none is more profitable. To its pioneers medicine
assigned a place among the gods and a home in
heaven, and even today medical aid is in many ways
sought from the oracle. Then medicine became
more famous even through sin, for legend said that
Aesculapius was struck by lightning for bringing
Tyndareus back to life. But medicine did not
cease to give out that by its agency other men had
come to life again, being famous in Trojan times,
in which its renown was more assured, but only
for the treatment of wounds.

II. The subsequent story of medicine, strange to
say, lay hidden in darkest night down to the Pelopon-

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

tunc eam revocavit in lucem Hippocrates genitus in
insula Coo in primis clara ac valida et Aesculapio
dicata. is, cum fuissct mos liberatos morbis scribere
in templo eius dei quid auxiliatum esset, ut postea
similitudo proficeret, exscripsisse ea traditur, atque,
ut Varro apud nos credit, templo cremato instituissc
medicinam hanc quae clinice vocatur. ncc fuit postea
quaestus modus, quoniam Prodicus x Selymbriae
natus, e discipulis eius, instituit quam vocant iatra-
lipticen et unctoribus quoque medicorum ac medi-
astinis vectigal invenit.

III. Horum placita Chrysippus ingenti garrulitate
mutavit plurimumque et ex Chrysippo discipulus eius
Erasistratus Aristotelis filia genitus. hic Antiocho
rege sanato centum talentis donatus est a rege
Ptolomaeo filio eius, ut incipiamus et praemia artis
ostendere.

IV. Alia factio ab experimentis se cognominans
empiricen coepit in Sicilia. Acrone Agragantino
Empedoclis physici auctoritate commendato. V.
dissederuntque hae scholae, et omnes eas damnavit
Herophilus in musicos pedes venarum pulsu discripto
per aetatum gradus. deserta deinde et haec secta

1 Prodicus] Coni. Herodicus Dal.

° It is thought that Pliny should have said Herodicus, who
was the teacher, not the pupil, of Hippocrates,

b A celebrated Cnidian physician of the early third century
b.c. Perhaps Pliny, with his ingenti garrulitate, has confused
this physician with the Stoic philosopher, a prolific writcr who
lived about the same time.

c Really the adoptcd son.

184

BOOK XXIX. ii. 4-v. 6

nesian War, when it was restored to the light by
Hippocrates, who was born in the very famous and Hippocraies.
powerful island of Cos, sacred to Aesculapius. It had
been the custom for patients recovered from illness to
inscribe in the temple of that god an account of the
help that they had received, so that affcerwards similar
remedies might be enjoyed. Accordingly Hippo-
crates, it is said, wrote out these inscriptions, and, as
our countryman Varro believes, after the temple had
been burnt, founded that branch of medicine called
" clinical." Afterwards there was no limit to the
profit from medical practice, for one of the pupils of
Hippocrates, Prodicus,a born in Selymbria, founded The
iatraliptice (" ointment cure "), and so discovered ^pTcllul.
revenue for the anointers even and drudges of the
doctors.

III. Changes from their tenets were made, with a
flood of verbiage, by Chrysippus,6 and from Chrysip-
pus also a violent change was made by his pupil
Erasistratus, a son c of the daughter of Aristotle.
For curing King Antiochus he received a hundred
talents from King Ptolemy, his son, to begin my
account of the prizes also of the profession.

IV. Another medical clique, calling themselves
" Empirics " because they relied on experience,
arose in Sicily, where Acron of Agrigentum received
support from Empedocles, the physical scientist.
V. These schools disagreed with each other, and
were all condemned by Herophilus,d who divided
pulsation into rhythmic feet for the various periods
of life. Then this sect also was abandoned, because
it was necessary for its members to have book-

d A famous physician of Alexandria, who was the first to
count pulses.

1*5

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

est, quoniam necesse erat in ea litteras scire. niutata
et quam postea Asclepiades, ut rettulimus, invenerat.
auditor eius Themison fuit,seque inter initia adscripsit
illi. mox procedente vita1 sua et2 placita mutavit,
sed et illa Antonius Musa eiusdem auditor 3 auctori-
tate divi Augusti quem contraria medicina gravi

7 periculo exemerat. multos praetereo medicos cele-
berrimosque ex his Cassios, Calpetanos, Arruntios,
Rubrios. ducena quinquagena HS annuales 4 mer-
cedes fuere apud principes. Q. Stertinius inputavit
principibus quod sestertiis quingenis annuis contentus
esset, sescena enim sibi quaestu urbis fuisse enumera-

8 tis domibus ostendebat. par et fratri eius merces a
Claudio Caesare infusa est, censusque, quamquam
exhausti operibus Neapoli exornata, heredi HS ccc
reliquere, quantum aetate eadem 5 Arruntius solus.
exortus deinde est Vettius Valens adulterio Messa-
linae Claudii Caesaris nobilitatus pariterque elo-
quentia.6 adsectatores et potentiam nanctus novam
instituit sectam. eadem aetas Neronis principatu ad

9 Thessalum transilivit delentem cuncta placita et
rabie quadam in omnis aevi medicos perorantem,
quali prudentia ingenioque aestimari vel uno argu-

1 vita vulg. : vitia codd.

2 suaetVRTf: ad sua E Detlefsen : s>u&d,vulg.: cm etsua?

3 auditor] om. codd., excidisse putat Mayhoff.

4 annuales dTf : annua his E Detlefsen : annuae iis May-
hoff.

5 aetate eadem Ianus, Mayhoff : Athenaidi coni. Detlefsen
Athena id est E vulg. : Athenade R : Athena dens d.

6 eloquentiae adsectatores et potentiae Maijhoff.

a He used cold baths instead of hot.

b Those were probably Greeks, in spite of their Roman
names.

186

BOOK XXIX. v. 6-9

learning, and that sect also was changed that
afterwards had been founded, as I have related, by
Asclepiades. He had a pupil called Themison, who Aseiepiades
at first followed his master, but then later in life he
also changed his tenets, a further change being made
by Antonius Musa, another pupil of Asclepiades,
with the support of the late Emperor Augustus,
whose life in a dangerous illness he had saved by
reversing the treatment.0 I pass over many famous
physicians, among them men like Cassius, Calpetanus,
Arruntius and Rubrius.& Two hundred and fifty Physitians'
thousand sesterces were their annual incomes c from
the Emperors. Q. Stertinius said that the Emperors
were in his debt because he had been content with an
income of five hundred thousand sesterces a year,
proving by a counting of homes that his city practice
had brought in six hundred thousand. A like fortune
also was showered by Claudius Caesar upon his
brother, and the estates, although exhausted by
beautifying Naples with buildings, left to the heir
thirty million, Arruntius alone in the same age
leaving as much. Then there arose Vettius Valens,
celebrated for his intrigue with Messalina, wife of
Claudius Caesar, and equally so for his eloquence.
Chancing to gain followers and power he founded a
new sect. The same generation in the principate of
Nero rushed over to Thessalus, who swept away all Thessaim.
received doctrines, and preached against the
physicians of every age with a sort of rabid frenzy.
The wisdom and talent he showed can be fully
judged even by one piece of evidence : on his monu-

c The reading annuales has such strong support (R too has
anulis) that with much misgiving I retain it.

187

PLINY: NATUKAL HISTORY

mento abunde potest, cum monumento suo, quod est
Appia via, iatronicen se inscripserit. nullius histrio-
num equorumque trigarii comitatior egressus in
publico erat, cum Crinas Massiliensis arte geminata,
ut cautior religiosiorque, ad siderum motus ex
ephemeride mathematica cibos dando horasque
observando auctoritate eum praecessit, nuperque
HS c reliquit, muris patriae moenibusque aliis paene

10 non minore summa extructis. hi regebant fata, cum
repente civitatem Charmis ex eadem Massilia invasit
damnatis non solum prioribus medicis verum et bal-
neis, frigidaque etiam hibernis algoribus lavari persua-
sit. mersit aegros in lacus. videbamus senes con-
sulares usque in ostentationem rigentes, qua de re

11 exstat etiam Annaei Senecae adstipulatio. nec
dubium est omnes istos famam novitate aliqua aucu-
pantes anima statim nostra negotiari. hinc illae
circa aegros miserae sententiarum concertationes,
nullo idem censente, ne videatur accessio alterius.
hinc illa infelix monumentis inscriptio, turba se
medicorum perisse. mutatur ars cottidie totiens
interpolis, et ingeniorum Graeciae flatu inpellimur,
palamque est, ut quisque inter istos loquendo polleat.

° See Epistles VI. 1,3 and XII. 1, 5.

b Or, " ominous."
e Or, " breeze from."

188

BOOK XXIX. v. 9-1 1

ment on the Appian Way he described himself as
iatronices, " the conqueror of physicians." No actor,
no driver of a three-horse chariot, was attended by
greater crowds than he as he walked abroad in public,
when Crinas of Massilia united medicine with another
art, being of a rather careful and superstitious nature,
and regulated the diet of patients by the motions of
the stars according to the almanacs of the astrono-
mers, keeping watch for the proper times, and out-
stripped Thessalus in influence. Recently he left ten
millions, and the sum he spent upon building the
walls of his native city and other fortifications was
almost as much. These men were ruling our
destinies when suddenly the state was invaded bv
Charmis, also from Massilia, who condemned not
only previous physicians but also hot baths, per-
suading people to bathe in cold water even during
the winter frosts. His patients he plunged into
tanks, and we used to see old men, consulars, actually
stiff with cold in order to show off. Of this we
have today a confirmation even in the writings of
Annaeus Seneca.0 There is no doubt that all these,
in their hunt for popularity by means of some
novelty, did not hesitate to buy it with our lives.
Hence those wretched, quarrelsome consultations at
the bedside of the patient, no consultant agreeing
with another lest he should appear to acknowledge
a superior. Hence too that gloomy b inscription on
monuments : " It was the crowd of physicians that
killed me." Medicine changes every day, being
furbished up again and again, and we are swept
along on the puffs c of the clever brains of Greece.
It is obvious that anyone among them who acquires
power of speaking at once assumes supreme command

PLINY: XATURAL HISTORY

iniperatorem illieo vitae nostrae necisque fieri, ceu
vero non milia gentium sine medicis degant nec
tamen sine medicina, sicuti p. R. ultra sexcentesimum
annum, neque ipse in accipiendis artibus lentus, medi-
cinae vero etiam avidus, donec expertam damnavit.

12 VI. Etenim percensere insignia priscorum in liis
moribus convenit. Cassius Hemina ex antiquissimis
auctor est primum e medicis venisse Romam Pelopon-
neso Archagathum Lysaniae filium L. Aemilio M.
Livio cos. anno urbis DXXXV, eique ius Quiritium
datum et tabernam in compito Acilio emptam ob id

13 publice. vulnerarium eum fuisse tradunt,1 mireque
gratum adventum eius initio, mox a saevitia secandi
urendique transisse nomen in carnificem et in taedium
artem omnesque medicos, quod clarissime intellegi
potest ex M. Catone, cuius auctoritati triumphus
atque censura minimum conferunt, tanto plus in ipso
est. quamobrem verba eius ipsa ponemus :

14 VII. Dicam de istis Graecis suo loco, M. fili.2
quid Athenis exquisitum habeam et quod bonum sit
illorum litteras inspicere, non perdiscere, vincam.
nequissimum et indocile genus illorum, et hoc puta
vatem dixisse : quandoque ista gens suas litteras

1 tradunt vulg., Detlefsen : egregium Mayhoff : credunt
codd.

2 Mayhoff hoc modo distinguit : post fili comma, post per-
discere punctum; post vincam punclum delet; evincam coni.

a 219 b.c.

b With the reading of Mayhoff : " He also says that
Archagathus was an excellent surgeon, etc."

190

BOOK XXIX. v. ii-vii. 14

over our life and slaughter, just as if thousands of
peoples do not live without physieians, though not
without physic, as the Roman people have done for
more than six hundred years, although not slow them-
selves to welcome science and art, being actually
greedy for medicine until trial led them to condemn
it.

VI. In fact this is the time to review the outstand-
ing features of medical practices in the days of our
fathers. Cassius Hemina, one of our earliest
authorities, asserts that the first physician to come

to Rome was Archagathus, son of Lysanias, who Archagathus.

migrated from the Peloponnesus in the year of the

city 535, a when Lucius Aemilius and Marcus Livius

were consuls. He adds that citizen rights were

given him, and a surgery at the cross-way of Acilius

was bought with public money for his own use.

They say b that he was a wound specialist, and that

his arrival at first was wonderfully popular, but

presently from his savage use of the knife and cautery

he was nicknamed " Executioner," and his profession,

with all physicians, became objects of loathing. The

truth of this can be seen most plainly in the opinion of

Marcus Cato, whose authority is very little enhanced

by his triumph and censorship ; so much more comes

from his personality. Therefore I will lay before my

readers his verv words.

VII. I shall speak about those Greek fellows in Catoon
their proper place, son Marcus, and point out the Physicmns'
result of my enquiries at Athens, and convince vou

what benefit comes from dipping into their literature,
and not making a close study of it. They are a quite
worthless people, and an intractable one, and you must
consider my words prophetic. When that race gives

191

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

dabit, omnia conrumpet, tum etiam magis, si medicos
suos hoc mittet. iurarunt inter se barbaros necare
omnes medicina, et hoc ipsum mercede faciunt ut
fides is sit et facile disperdant. nos quoque dictitant
barbaros et spurcius nos quam alios opicon appella-
tione foedant. interdixi tibi de medicis.

15 VIII. Atque hic Cato sescentesimo quinto anno
urbis nostrae obiit, octogensimo quinto suo, ne quis
illi defuisse publice tempora aut privatim vitae spatia
ad experiendum arbitretur. quid ergo ? damnatam
ab eo rem utilissimam credimus ? minime, Hercules.
subicit enim qua medicina se et coniugem usque ad
longam senectam perduxerit, his ipsis scilicet quae
nunc nos tractamus,1 profiteturque esse commen-
tarium sibi quo medeatur filio, servis, familiaribus,

16 quem nos per genera usus sui 2 digerimus. non rem
antiqui damnabant, sed artem, maxime vero quaes-
tum esse manipretio vitae recusabant. ideo templum
Aesculapii, etiam cum reciperetur is deus, extra
urbem fecisse iterumque in insula traduntur, et cum
Graecos Italia pellerent diu etiam post Catonem,
excepisse medicos. augebo providentiam illorum.

17 solam hanc artium Graecarum nondum exercet
Romana gravitas, in tanto fructu paucissimi Quiritium

1 nos tractamus Gelenius, Harduinus, Mayhoff : nos
trademus vulg., Detlefsen : nostra scitamus plerique codd.
8 usus sui codd. et edd. : ususve coni. Mayhoff.

a An uncultivated Italian tribe.

b Do \ve believe that a thing condemned by him is very
useful 1

e A curious use of excipio. Yet we must either so translate
or with Sillig read nec for et.

IQ2

BOOK XXIX. vii. 14-vin. 17

us its literature it will corrupt all things, and even all
the more if it sends hither its physicians. They have
conspired together to murder all foreigners with their
physic, but this very thing they do for a fee, to gain
credit and to destroy us easily. They are also
always dubbing us foreigners, and to fling more filth
on us than on others they give us the foul nickname
of Opici.a I have forbidden you to have dealings
with physicians.

VIII. And this Cato died in the 605th year of the
City and the 85th of his own life, so that nobody can
think that he lacked opportunities in public life, or
length of years in private life, to gather experiences.
What then ? Are we to believe that he condemned
a very useful thing ? b Xo, by heaven ! For he adds
the medical treatment by which he prolonged his
own life and that of his wife to an advanced age, by
these very remedies in fact with which I am now
dealing, and he claims to have a notebook of recipes,
by the aid of which he treated his son, servants, and
household ; these I rearrange under the diseases
for which they are used. It was not medicine that
our forefathers condemned, but the medical pro-
fession, chiefly because they refused to pay fees to
profiteers in order to save their lives. For this reason
even when Aesculapius was brought as a god to
Rome, they are said to have built his temple outside
the city, and on another occasion upon an island, and
when, a long time too after Cato, they banished
Greeks from Italy, to have expressly included c
physicians. I will magnify yet further their wisdom.
Medicine alone of the Greek arts we serious Romans
have not yet practised ; in spite of its great profits
only a very few of our citizens have touched upon it,

193

VOL. VIII. H

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

attagere et ipsi statim ad Graecos transfugae, immo
vero auctoritas aliter quam Graece eam tractantibus
etiam apud inperitos expertesque linguae non est, ac
minus credunt quae ad salutem suam pertinent, si in-
tellegant. itaque, Hercules, in hac artium sola evenit
ut cuicumque medicum se professo statim credatur,

18 cum sit periculum in nullo mendacio maius. non
tamen illud intuemur, adeo blanda est sperandi pro
se cuique dulcedo. nulla praeterea lex quae puniat
inscitiam capitalem, nullum exemplum vindictae.
discunt periculis nostris et experimenta per mortes
agunt, medicoque tantum hominem occidisse inpuni-
tas summa est. quin immo transit convicium et
intemperantia culpatur ultroque qui periere arguun-
tur. sed decuriae pro more censuris principum
examinantur, inquisitio per parietes agitur, et qui de
nummo iudicet a Gadibus columnisque Herculis
arcessitur, de exilio vero non nisi XLV electis viris

19 datur tabella. at de iudice ipso quales in consilium
eunt statim occisuri ! merito, dum nemini nostrum
libet scire quid saluti suae opus sit. alienis pedibus
ambulamus, alienis oculis agnoscimus, aliena me-
moria salutamus, aliena et vivimus opera, perierunt-
que rerum naturae pretia et vitae argumenta. nihil

" This refera to the Roman custom of using slaves to carry
them in litters, or to prompt them if thej' forgot faces or names.

194

BOOK XXIX. vm. 17-19

and even these were at once deserters to the Greeks ;
nay, if medical treatises are written in a language
other than Greek they have 110 prestige even among
unlearned men ignorant of Greek, and if any should
understand them they have less faith in what con-
cerns their own health. Accordingly, heaven knows,
the medical profession is the only one in which any-
body professing to be a physician is at once trusted,
although nowhere else is an untruth more dangerous.
We pay however no attention to the danger, so great
for each of us is the seductive sweetness of wishful
thinking. Besides this, there is no law to punish
criminal ignorance, no instance of retribution.
Physicians acquire their knowledge from our dangers,
making experiments at the cost of our lives. Only
a physician can commit homicide with complete
impunity. Nay, the victim, not the criminal, is
abused; his is the blame for want of self-control,
and it is actually the dead who are brought to account.
Panels of judges are tested according to custom bv
the censorial powers of the Emperor ; their examina-
tion invades the privacy of our homes ; to give a
verdict on a petty sum a man is summoned from
Cadiz and the Pillars of Hercules ; indeed, before the
penalty of exile can be inflicted forty-five selected
men are given power to vote on it ; yet on the judge
himself what manner of men sit in consultation to
murder him out of hand ! We deserve it all, so long
as not one of us cares to know what is necessarv for
his own good health. We walk with the feet of
others, we recognise our acquaintances with the eyes
of others, rely on others' memory to make our
salutations,0 and put into the hands of others our
very lives ; the precious things of nature, which

J95

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

20 aliud pro nostro habemus quam delicias. non
deseram Catonem tam ambitiosae artis invidiae a me
obiectum aut senatum illum qui ita censebat, idque
non criminibus artis arpeptis, ut aliquis exspectaverit.
quid enim venenorum fertilius aut unde plures testa-
mentorum insidiae ? iam vero et adulteria etiam in
principum domibus, ut Eudemi in Livia Drusi
Caesaris, item Valentis in qua dictum est regina.

21 non sint artis ista sed hominum ; non magis haec urbi
timuit Cato, ut equidem credo, quam reginas. ne
avaritiam quidem arguam rapacesque nundinas pen-
dentibus fatis et dolorum indicaturam ac mortis arram
aut arcana praecepta, squamam in oculis emovendam
potius quam extrahendam, per quae effectum est ut
nihil magis pro re videretur quam multitudo grassan-
tium ; neque enim pudor sed aemuli pretia summit-

22 tunt. notum est ab eodem Charmide unum aegrum
ex provincialibus HS cc1 reconductum Alconti vul-
nerum medico, HS x2 damnato ademisse Claudium
principem, eidemque in Gallia exulanti et deinde
restituto adquisitum non minus intra paucos annos.

23 et haec personis inputentur. ne faecem quidem aut
inscitiam eius turbae x arguamus, ipsorum intem-

1 cc Warmington: cc codd.

2 x Warmington: c codd.

a turbae d vnlg. : turpem Mayhoff : turbam pleriqtie codd.
Post ipsorum add. procerum Mayhoff.

° That a further operation may be necessary.
* With Mayhoff' s readings : " or its disgraceful ignorance,
the irresponsibility of the leading physicians themselves."

196

BOOK XXIX. vin. 19-23

support life, we have quite lost. We have nothing
else of our own save our luxuries. I will not abandon
Cato exposed by me to the hatred of so vain-glorious
a profession, or yet that Senate which shared his
views, and that without seizing, as one might expect,
any chances of accusation against the profession.
For what has been a more fertile source of poison-
ings ? Whence more conspiracies against wills ?
Yes, and through it too adulteries occur even in our
imperial homes, that of Eudemus with Livia, wife of
Drusus Caesar, and that of Yalens with the roval
lady with whom his name is linked. We may grant
that the blame for such sins may lie with persons, not
with the medical profession ; Cato, I believe, had no
more fears for Rome about these matters than he had
about the presence in Rome of royal ladies. Let me
not even bring charges against their avarice, their
greedy bargains made with those whose fate lies in
the balance, the prices charged for anodynes, the
earnest-money paid for death, or their mysterious
instructions, that a cataract should be moved away
and not pulled off.° The result is that the brightest
side of the picture is the vast number of marauders ;
for it is not shame but the competition of rivals that
brings down fees. It is well known that the Charmis Attack on
aforesaid exchanged one sick provincial for 200,000 Ph^sicians-
sesterces by a bargain with Alcon the wound-
surgeon; that Charmis was condemned and fined
by the Emperor Claudius the sum of 1,000,000
sesterces, yet as an exile in Gaul and on his return
from banishment he amassed a like sum within a
few years. Let the blame for this sort of thing also
be laid on persons. I must not accuse even the dregs
of that mob b or its ignorance : the irresponsibility of

197

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

perantiam, in morbis * aquarum calidarum deverticulis
imperiosa inedia et ab isdem deficientibus cibo saepius
die ingesto, mille praeterea paenitentiae modis,
culinarum etiam praeceptis et unguentorum mixturis,

24 quando nullas omiserc vitae inlecebras. invehi pere-
grinas merces conciliarique externa pretia displicuisse
maioribus crediderim equidem, non tamen hoc
Catonem providisse, cum damnaret artem. theriace
vocatur excogitata compositio. fit ex rebus sex-
centis,2 cum tot remedia dederit natura quae singula
suiticerent. Mithridatium antidotum ex rebus LIIII
componitur, inter nullas 3 pondere aequali et quarun-
dam rerum sexagesima denarii unius imperata, quo

25 deorum, per Fidem, ista monstrante ! hominum enim
subtilitas tanta esse non potuit, ostentatio artis et
portentosa scientiae venditatio manifesta est. ac ne
ipsi quidem illa novere, conperique volgo pro cinna-
bari Indica in medicamenta minium addi inscitia
nominis, quod esse venenum docebimus inter pig-

26 menta. verum haec ad singulorum salutem perti-
nent, illa autem quae timuit Cato atque providit,
innocentiora multo et parva opinatu quae proceres
artis eius de semet ipsi fateantur.illa perdidere imperii
mores, illa quae sani patimur, luctatus ceromata ceu
valitudinis causa instituta, balineae ardentes quibus
persuasere in corporibus cibos coqui ut nemo non

1 in morbis codd. : inimodicis Mayhoff.

2 sexcentis Sillig, Mayhoff : externis codd., Detlefsen.

3 nullas Mayhoff : nullius Detlefsen : nullos plerique codd.

" ( Vlsus ( V. 1'.'), .'}) giv.es the number of imjredients as thirty-
six. The antidota were stimulant, aromatic substances which,
with honey and wine, wcre given for falls. pains, and ])oisons.

6 Also called cinnabaris nativa; hence the error.

f See XXXIII. § 124.

198

BOOK XXIX. viii. 23-26

the physicians themselves, with their out-of-the-way
use of hot water in sickness, their strict fasts for
patients, who when in a fainting condition are stuffed
with food several times a day, their thousand ways
moreover of changing their minds, their orders to
the kitchen, and their compound ointments ; for
none of life's seductive attractions have they re-
frained frorn touching. I am inclined to believe that
our ancestors were displeased with imports from
abroad and with the fixing of prices by foreigners, but
not that Cato foresaw these things when he con-
demned the profession. There is an elaborate
mixture called iheriace. which is compounded of
countless ingredients, although Nature has given as
many remedies, anyone of which would be enough
by itself. The Mithridatic antidote is composed of
fifty-four a ingredients, no two of them having the
same weight, while of some is prescribed one sixtieth
part of one denarius. Which of the gods, in the
name of Truth, fixed these absurd proportions ? Xo
human brain could have been sharp enough. It is
plainly a showy parade of the art, and a colossal boast
of science. And not even the physicians know their
facts ; I have discovered that instead of Indian cinna-
bar there is commonly added to medicines, through
a confusion of names, red lead,6 which, as I shall
point out when I discuss pigments,c is a poison.
These things however concern the health of indi-
viduals ; but those other practices, which Cato feared
and foresaw, much less harmful and less regarded,
such as the heads of that profession themselves admit
about themselves, those, I say, have ruined the morals
of the Empire, I mean the practices to which we sub-
mit when in health — wrestlers' ointments. as though

199

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

minus validus exiret, oboedientissimi vero efferrentur,
potus deinde ieiunorum ac vomitiones et rursus per-
potationes ac pilorum eviratio instituta resinis
eorum, itemque pectines in feminis quidem publicati.

27 ita est profecto, lues morum, nec aliunde maior quam
e medicina, vatem prorsus cottidie facit Catonem et
oraculum : satis esse ingenia Graecorum inspicere,

28 non perdiscere. haec fuerint dicenda pro senatu illo
sescentisque p. R. annis adversus artem in qua condi-
tione insidiosissima auctoritatem pessimis boni
faciunt, simul contra attonitas quorundam persua-
siones qui prodesse nisi pretiosa non putant. neque
enim dubitaverim aliquis fastidio futura quae dicentur
animalia, at non Virgilio fuit nominare formicas nulla
necessitate et curculiones ac lucifugis congesta cubilia
blattis, non Homero inter proelia deorum inprobi-
tatem muscae describere, non naturae gignere ista,
cum gignat hominem. proinde causas quisque et
effectus, non res aestimet.

29 IX. Ordiemur autem a confessis, hoc est lanis ovis-

que, ut * rebus praecipuis honos in primis perhibeatur.

1 ut Urlichs, Detlefsen : ob id ut Mayhoff : obiter (obitur)
aid obiter ut codd.

a A pun on concoquere (and sometimes coquere) in the sense
of " digest."

6 Or, " innumerable."

e Georgics I. 186 and IV. 243.

200

BOOK XXIX. viii. 26-ix. 29

thev were intended to treat ill health, broiling baths,
by which they have persuaded us that food is
cooked a in our bodies, so that everybody leaves
them the weaker for the treatment, and the most
submissive are carried out to be buried, the draughts
taken fasting, vomitings followed by further heavy
potations, effeminate depilations produced by their
resins, and even the pubes of women exposed to
public view. It is certainly true that our degeneracy,
due to medicine more than to anything else, proves
daily that Cato was a genuine prophet and oracle
when he stated that it is enough to dip into the
works of Greek brains without making a close study
of them. Thus much must be said in defence of that
Senate and those 600 b years of the Roman State,
against a profession where the treacherous conditions
allow good men to give authority to the worst, and
at the same time against the stupid convictions of
certain people who consider nothing benencial unless
it is costly. For I feel sure that some will be dis-
gusted at the animals I shall treat of, although Virgil c
did not disdain to speak quite unnecessarily of ants
and weevils, and of : —

" sleeping places heaped up by cockroaches that
avoid the light."

Nor did Homer d disdain amid the battles of the gods
to tell of the greed of the fly, nor yet did Nature
disdain to create them because she creates man.
Therefore let each take into account, not things
themselves, but causes and results.

IX. But I shall commence with admitted medical wooiand
aids, that is, with wools and eggs, to give first eggs-

d lUad XVII. 570.

201

PLINV. NATURAL HISTORY

quaedam etiam si : alienis locis, tamen obiter dici
necesse erit. nec deerat materia pompae, si quic-
quam aliud intueri liberet quam fidem operis, quippe
inter prima proditis etiam ex cinere phoenicis nidoque
medicinis, ceu vero id certum esset atque non fabulo-
sum. inridere est vitae remedia post millensimum

30 annum reditura monstrare. lanis auctoritatem
veteres Romani etiam religiosam habuere postes a
nubentibus attingi iubentes, praeterque cultum et
tutelam contra frigora sucidae plurima praestant
remedia ex oleo vinoque aut aceto, prout quaeque
mulceri morderive opus sit et .adstringi laxarive,
luxatis membris dolentibusque nervis inpositae et
crebro suffusae. quidam et salem admiscent luxatis,
alii cum lana rutam tritam adipemque inponunt,

31 item contusis tumentibusque. halitus quoque oris
gratiores facere traditur confricatis dentibus atque
gingivis admixto melle. prodest et phreneticis
suffitu. sanguinem in naribus sistit cum oleo rosaceo.
et alio modo indita auribus opturatis spissius. quin
et ulceribus vetustis inponitur cum melle. vulnera
ex vino vel aceto vel aqua frigida et oleo expressa

32 sanat. arietis vellera luta frigida ex oleo madefacta
in muliebribus malis inflammationes vulvae sedant et,
si procidant, suffitu reprimunt. sucida lana inposita
subditaque mortuos partus evocat. sistit etiam pro-

1 si E vulg. Detlejsen : sic plerique codd., Mayhoff.

° Or probably " chief," " best."
* For phrenitis see List of Diseases.

BOOK XXIX. ix. 29-32

honours to things of the first importance. Certain
matters even out of their proper place it will be
necessary to discuss, at least as incidental asides.
Nor would material be wanting for rhetoric if it
pleased me to pay attention to anything else than to
making my work trustworthy, seeing that fable even
says that among the first ° medicines was one from
the ashes and nest of the phoenix, just as though the
story were fact and not myth. It is to joke with
mankind to point out remedies that return only after
a thousand years. The old Romans assigned to wool
even supernatural powers, for they bade brides touch
with it the doorposts of their new homes ; and besides
dress and protection from cold, unwashed wool
supplies very many remedies if dipped in oil and wine
or vinegar, according as the particular need is for an
emollient or a pungent remedy, for an astringent or
a relaxing one, being applied, and frequently
moistened, for dislocations and aching sinews. For
dislocations some add salt also ; others apply with
wool pounded rue and fat, likewise for bruises and
swellings. To rub too the teeth and gums with
wool and honey is said to make the breath more
pleasant, and to fumigate with wool benefits
phrenitis.6 Nose bleeding is checked by inserting
wool and rose oil ; another way is to put it into the
ears and plug them rather nrmly. It is applied
moreover with honey to old sores. Wounds it heals
if dipped in wine, or vinegar, or cold water and oil,
and then squeezed out. A ram's fleece washed in
cold water and soaked in oil, soothes inflammations
of the uterus in women's complaints, and by fumi-
gation reduces prolapsus. Unwashed wool applied
or used as a pessary extracts a dead foetus ; it also

203

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

fiuvia earum, et canis rabiosi morsibus inculcata post
diem septimum solvitur. reduvias sanat ex aqua
frigida, eadem nitro, sulpure, oleo, aceto, pice liquida
fervescentibus tincta quam calidissima inposita bis die
lumborum dolores sedat. sistit et sanguinem ex
ariete sucida articulos extremitatium praeligans.

33 laudatissima omnis e collo, natione vero Galatica,
Tarentina, Attica, Milesia. sucidam inponunt et des-
quamatis, percussis, lividis, incussis, conlisis, contritis,
deiectis, capitis et aliis doloribus, stomachi inflamma-
tioni ex aceto et rosaceo. cinis eius inlinitur adtritis,
vulneratis, ambustis. et in oculorum medicamentis

34 additur, item in fistulas auresque suppuratas. ad
hoc detonsam eam, alii evolsam, deeisis summis parti-
bus siccant carpuntque et in fictili crudo conponunt
ac melle perfundunt uruntque. alii astulis taedae
subiectis et subinde interstratis oleo adspersam
accendunt, cineremque in labellis aqua addita con-
fricant manu et considere patiuntur, idque saepius
mutantes aquam, donec linguam adstringat leniter
nec mordeat. tunc cinerem reponunt. vis eius
septica est efficacissimeque genas purgat.

35 X. Quin ipsae sordes pecudum sudorque feminum
et alarum adhaerentes lanis — oesypum vocant —
innumeros prope usus habent. in Atticis ovibus
genito palma. fit pluribus modis, sed probatissimum

204

BOOK XXIX. ix. 32-x. 35

stays uterine fluxes. Plugged into the bites of a
mad dog it is taken away after the seventh day.
With cold "\vater it cures hangnails. Again, dipped
into a hot mixture of soda, sulphur, oil, vinegar and
liquid pitch, all as hot as possible, and applied twice
a day, wool relieves lumbago. Unwashed ram's wool
also stays bleeding if bound round the joints of the
extremities. The most highly esteemed wool is : all
from the neck, and that from the districts of Galatia,
Tarentum, Attica, and Miletus. Unwashed wool is
applied to excoriations, blows, bruises, contusions,
crushed parts, galhng, falls, pains in the head and
elsewhere, and with vinegar and rose oil to in-
flammation of the stomach. The ash of wool is
applied to chafings, wounds, and burns. It is added
to medicaments for the eyes, and also used for fistulas
and suppurating ears. For this purpose some take
shorn wool, others wool plucked out, cut off the ends,
dry, card, place in a vessel of unbaked clay, steep in
honey, and burn. Others place under it a layer of
pitch-pine chips, make several alternate layers,
sprinkle with oil, and set on fire. The ash is rubbed
by the hand into little pots, with water added, and
then allowed to settle. The operation is repeated
several times, with changes of water, until the ash
becomes slightly astringent to the tongue without
stinging it ; then it is stored away. It has a caustic
property that makes it an excellent detergent for the
eyelids.

X. Moreover, even the greasy sweat of sheep that Oesypum
clings to the wool under the hollows of their flanks and
forelegs — it is called oesypum (suint) — has uses almost
innumerable. The most prized is that obtained from
Attic sheep. There are several ways of preparing it,

205

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

lana ab his partibus recenti concerpta aut quibuscum-
que sordibus sucidis primum collectis lento igni in
aeneo subfervefactis et refrigeratis pinguique quod
supernatet collecto in fictile vas iterumque decocta
priore materia, quae pinguitudo utraque frigida aqua
lavatur et in linteo saccatur ac sole torretur, donec
candida fiat ac tralucida, tum in stagnea pyxide

36 conditur. probatio ut sordium virus oleat et manu
fricante ex aqua non liquetur sed albescat ut cerussa.
oculis utilissimum contra inflammationes genarumque
callum. quidam in testa torrent donec pinguitudinem
amittat, utilius tale existimantes erosis et duris genis,

37 angulis scabiosis et lacrimantibus. ulcera non ocu-
lorum modo sanat sed oris etiam et genitalium cum
anserino adipe. medetur et vulvae inflammationibus
et sedis rhagadiis et condylomatis cum meliloto ac
butyro. reliquos usus eius digeremus. sordes quoque
caudarum concretae in pilulas siccatae per se tusaeque
in farinam et inlitae dentibus mire prosunt, etiam

38 labantibus,1 gingivisque, si carcinoma serpat, iam
vero pura vellera aut per se inposita caecis doloribus
aut accepto sulpure, et cinis eorum genitalium vitiis,
tantumque pollent ut medicamentis quoque super-
ponantur. medentur ante omnia et pecori ipsi, si
fastidio non pascatur. cauda enim quam artissime

1 labantibus d, vulg., Mayhoff : labantibusque VR : laban-
tibus quae E : labantibus, uvae coni. Detlefsen.

° An alloy of silver and lead.

6 Or, " sweaty grease too round the tail, if allowed to dry
and congeal by itself into little balls and then etc."

r That is, of uncertain locality or origin. The word is used
again with dolores in § 55.
206

BOOK XXIX. x. 35-38

but the most approved is to take fresh-plucked wool
from the parts mentioned, or first to gather the greasy
sweat from any part, then warm it in a bronze pot
over a slow fire, cool it again, collect in an earthen
vessel the fat that floats on the top, and boil again
the stufF originally used. Both the fats obtained
are washed in cold water, strained through linen,
heated in the sun until they become white and trans-
parent, and then stored away in a box of stannum.a
The test of its purity is that it should retain the
strong smell of the grease, and when rubbed with
the hand in water, should not melt, but become white
like white-lead. It is very useful for inflammations
of the eyes and hard places 011 the eyelids. Some
bake it in an earthen jar until it is no longer fatty,
holding that in this condition it is a more useful
remedy for sores that have eaten into the eyelids, for
indurations there, and for watery itch at the corners.
It heals, not only sores of the eyes, but also with
goose grease those of the mouth and genitals.
With melilot and butter it cures inflammations of the
uterus, chaps in the anus, and condylomata. Its
other uses I shall set out in order later on. The
sweaty b grease too that gathers into pills about the
tail, dried by itself and ground to powder, is wonder-
fully beneficial if rubbed 011 the teeth, even when
these are loose, and on the gums when they suffer
from malignant, running sores. Furthermore, clean
pieces of fleece are applied to blind c pains, either
by themselves or with sulphur added, and their ash
to affections of the genitals, being so potent that they
are even placed over medicinal applications. Wool
is also the best of remedies for sheep themselves if
they lose their appetite and will not pasture. For if

207

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

praeligata, evolsa inde lana, statim vescuntur, tra-
duntque quod extra nodum sit e cauda praemori.

39 XI. Lanae habent et cum ovis societatem simul
fronti inpositae contra epiphoras. non opus est eas
in hoc usu radicula esse curatas neque aliud quam
candidum ex ovo infundi ac pollinem turis. ova per
se infuso candido oculis epiphoras cohibent urentes-
que refrigerant — quidam cum croco praeferunt — et
pro aqua miscentur collyriis. infantibus vero contra
lippitudines ut x vix aliud remedio sunt 2 butyro

40 admixto recenti. eadem cum oleo trita ignes sacros
leniunt betae foliis superinligatis. candido ovorum
in oculis et pili reclinantur Hammoniaco trito
admixtoque et vari in facie cum pineis nucleis ac
melle modico. ipsa facies inlita sole non uritur.
ambusta aquis si statim ovo occupentur, pusulas non
sentiunt — quidam admiscent farinam hordeaciam et
salis parum — ulceribus vero ex ambusto cum candido
ovorum tostum hordeum et suillo adipe mire prodest.

41 eadem curatione ad sedis vitia utuntur, infantibus
quidem etiam si quid ibi procidat, ad pedum rimas
ovorum candido decocto cum cerussae denariorum

ut vix Mayhoff : vix codd., Detlef,
sunt Mayhoff : est codd., Detlef,

sen,
sen.

° The reading of the MSS. would mean : " scarcely any-
thing else is a remedy except egg mixed with fresh butter,"
a startling statement even for Pliny. Mayhoffs conjectures
give the required sense, although it is hard to see how and
why corruption occurred.

208

BOOK XXIX. x. 38-xi. 41

their tails are tied as tightly as possible with wool
plucked therefrom they at once begin to feed, and
it is said that all the tail outside the knot dies off.

XI. Wool has also a close affinity with eggs, the
two being laid together on the forehead for eye
fluxes. There is no need for the wool, when so used,
to have been treated with radicula, or for anything
else except to spread on it white of egg and powdered
frankincense. White of egg by itself, poured into
the eyes, checks fluxes and cools inflammations,
although some prefer to add saffron, and eggs can
take the place of water in eye salves. But for infant
ophthalmia scarcely anything else a is so remedial as
egg mixed with fresh butter. Eggs beaten up with
olive oil relieve erysipelas if beet leaves are tied on
top. White of egg mixed with pounded gum
ammoniac sets back eye-lashes, and removes spots
on the face with pine nuts and a little honey. The
face itself if smeared with egg is not burnt by the
sun. If scalds are at once covered with egg they
do not blister — some add barley flour and a pinch of
salt — while sores from a burn are made wonderfully
better by roasted barley with white of egg and pig's
lard. The same treatment is used for affections of
the anus, and even for procidence in the case of
infants ; for chaps on the feet the white of eggs is
boiled down with two denarii by weight of white
lead, an equal weight of litharge, a little myrrh, and
then wine ; for erysipelas is used the white of three
eggs with starch. It is also said that white of egg
closes wounds and expels stone from the bladder.
The yolk of eggs, boiled hard, mixed with a little
saffron and honey, and applied in woman's milk,
relieves pains of the eyes ; or it may be placed over

209

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

duum pondere, pari spumae argenti, murrae exiguo,
dein vino ; ad ignem sacrum candido ovorum trium
cum amulo. aiunt et vulnera candido glutinari

42 calculosque pelli. lutea ovorum cocta ut indurescant,
admixto croco modice, item melle, ex lacte mulieris
inlita dolores oculorum mitigant, vel cum rosaceo et
mulso lana oculis inposita, vel cum trito apii semine
ac polenta in mulso inlita. prodest et tussientibus
per se luteum devoratum liquidum ita ut dentibus non
attingatur, thoracis destillationibus, faucium scabri-
tiae. privatim contra haemorroidis morsum inlinitur

43 sorbeturque crudum. prodest et renibus, vesicae
rosionibus exulcerationibusque.1 cruenta excreanti-
bus quinque ovorum lutea in vini hemina cruda
sorbentur, dysintericis cum cinere putaminis sui et
papaveris suco ac vino. dantur coeliacis cum uvae
passae pinguis pari pondere et malicorii per triduum
aequis portionibus, et alio modo lutea ovorum trium,
lardi veteris et mellis quadrantibus, vini veteris
cyathis tribus, trita ad crassitudinem mellis et, cum

44 opus sit, abellanae nucis magnitudine ex aqua
pota, item ex oleo fricta terna, totis ovis pridie
maceratis in aceto, sic et lientericis, sanguinem
autem reicientibus cum tribus cyathis musti.
utuntur isdem ad liventia, si vetustiora sint, cum
bulbis ac melle. sistunt et menses mulierum cocta

45 et e vino pota, inflationes quoque vulvae cruda
cum oleo ac vino inlita. utilia sunt et cervicis
doloribus cum anserino adipe et rosaceo, sedis etiam
vitiis indurata igni ut calore quoque prosint, et con-
dvlomatis cum rosaceo, item ambustis durata in

1 Sic dist. Mayhoff e Plinio iun.; ceteri edd. punctum post
excreantibus ponunt.

2IO

BOOK XXIX. xi. 41-45

the eyes on wool with rose oil and honey wine, or
applied in honey wine with ground celery-seed and
pearl barley. Swallowed liquid, without letting it
touch the teeth, the yolk by itself is good for cough,
catarrh of the chest, and rough throats. Applied
externally or taken internally the raw yolk is specific
for the bite of the haemorrhois.a It is also good for
the kidneys, and for irritation or ulceration of the
bladder.b For spitting of blood five yolks of egg are
swallowed raw in a hemina of wine, and for dysentery
they are taken with the ash of their shells, poppy
juice, and wine. With the same weight of plump
raisins and pomegranate rind yolk of egg is given in
equal doses for three days to sufferers from coeliac
affections. Another way is to take the yolks of three
eggs, three ounces of old bacon fat and of honey, and
three cyathi of old wine, beat them up until they are
of the consistency of honey, and take in water when
required pieces of the size of a filbert. Yet another
way is to fry three eggs after steeping them whole
the day before in vinegar, and to use them so for
spleen diseases, but to take them in three cyathi of
must for the spitting of blood. Eggs are used with
bulbs and honey for persistent bruises. Boiled and
taken in wine they also check menstruation ; inflation
too of the uterus if applied raw with oil and wine.
They are useful too, with goose grease and rose oil,
for pains in the neck ; for affections of the anus also,
if hardened over fire and applied while the additional
benefit of the heat is still retained ; for condylomata
with rose oil ; for burns they are hardened in water,

0 For this poisonous snake see Lucan IX. 709 foll.
b Mayhoff 's punctuation avoids the awkward repetition of
in vini hemina and ciun . . . vino in the same prescription.

211

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

aqua, mox in pruna; * putaminibus exustis, tum lutea
ex rosaceo inlinuntur. fiunt et tota lutea, quae
vocant sitista ; cum triduo incubita tolluntur.
stomachum dissolutum confirmant pulli ovorum cum
gallae dimidio, ita ne ante duas horas alius cibus
sumatur. dant et dysintericis pullos in ipso ovo
decoctos admixta vini austeri hemina et pari modo

46 olei polentaeque. membrana putamini detracta sive
crudo sive cocto labiorum fissuris medetur, putaminis
cinis in vino potus sanguinis eruptionibus. comburi
sine membrana oportet, sic fit et dentifricium. idem
cinis et mulierum menses cum murra inlitus sistit.
firmitas putaminum tanta est ut recta nec vi nec
pondere ullo frangantur, nec nisi paulum inflexa

47 rotunditate. tota ova adiuvant partum cum ruta et
aneto et cumino pota e vino. scabiem corporum ac
pruritum oleo et cedria mixtis tollunt, ulcera quoque
umida in capite cyclamino admixta. ad puris et
sanguinis excreationes ovum crudum cum porri sectivi
suco parique mensura mellis Graeci calefactum
hauritur. dantur et tussientibus cocta et trita cum
melle et cruda cum passo oleique pari modo. infun-
duntur et virilitatis vitiis singula cum ternis passi
cyathis amulique semuncia a balneis, adversus ictus
serpentium cocta tritaque adiecto nasturtio inlinun-

48 tur. cibo quot modis iuvent notum est, cum trans-

1 Distinxi ego.
212

BOOK XXIX. xi. 45-48

then over hot coals ; when the shells have been burned
off, finally the yolks are applied in rose oil. Eggs
become entirely yolk (they are then called sitista)
when the hen has sat upon them for three days before
they are taken up. The chicks found in eggs taken
with half a gall nut settle a disordered stomach, but
care must be taken to eat no other food for the next
two hours. There are also given to dysentery
patients chicks boiled in the egg itself and added to
a hemina of dry wine and the same quantity of oil
and pearl barley. The membrane peeled off the
shell of a raw or boiled egg heals cracks in the lips.
The shell reduced to ash and taken in wine cures
discharges of blood. It must be burnt without the
membrane. From this ash is also made a denti-
frice. It also checks menstruation if applied with
myrrh. The strength of the shells is so great that
no force or weight will break them when the eggs are
perpendicular, but only when the oval is slightly in-
clined. Childbirth is made easier by whole eggs, with
rue, dill, and cummin, taken in wine. Itch and irri-
tation of the skin are removed by a mixture of oil,
cedar-resin, and eggs ; running ulcers too on the head
by eggs mixed with cyclamen. For spitting of pus or
blood is swallowed a raw egg warmed with juice of
cutleek and an equal amount of Greek honey.
There are given to patients with a cough boiled eggs
beaten up with honey, or raw eggs with raisin wine
and an equal measure of oil. Eggs are also injected
for complaints of the male organs, the dose being
one egg with three cyathi of raisin wine and half an
ounce of starch, given after the bath ; for snake bite
they are applied after boiling them and beating up
with the addition of cress. How helpful in many

213

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

meent faucium tumorem ealfactuque obiter foveant.
nullus est alius cibus qui in aegritudine alat neque
oneret simulque vim potus et cibi habeat. macera-

49 torum in aceto molliri diximus putamen. talibus
cum farina in panem subactis coeliaci recreantur.
quidam ita resoluta in patinis torrere utilius putant,
quo genere non alvos tantum sed et menses femin-
arum sistunt, aut si maior sit impetus, cruda cum
farina et aqua hauriuntur, et per se lutea ex his
decocta in aceto donec indurescant, iterumque cum
trito pipere torrentur * ad cohibendas alvos. iit et

50 dysintericis remedium singulare ovo effuso in fictile
novum eiusdemque ovi mensura, ut paria sint omnia,
melle, mox aceto, item oleo confusis crebroque per-
mixtis. quo fuerint ea excellentiora hoc praesentius
remedium erit. alii eadem mensura pro oleo et aceto
resinam adiciunt rubentem vinumque ; et alio modo
temperant, olei tantum mensura pari pineique
corticis duabus sexagensimis denarii ac una eius quod
rhus diximus, mellis obolis quinque simul decoctis, ita
ut cibus alius post quattuor horas sumatur. tormini-
bus quoque multi medentur ova bina cum alii spicis
quattuor una terendo vinique hemina calefaciendo

51 atque ita potui dando. et, ne quid desit ovorum
gratiae, candidum cx his admixtum calci vivae

1 torrenturweJgr. : Mayhqffquitoat&d&ntuTConi.: torreantur
codd. Detlefsen.

« Book X. § 167. b See XXIV. § 91.

2T4

BOOK XXIX. xi. 48-51

ways eggs are as food is well known, for they pass a
swollen throat and incidentally by their heat soothe
it. There is no other food so nourishing in sickness
without overloading the stomach, and it has the
nature of both food and drink. I have said ° that
the shell is softened of eggs steeped in vinegar.
Eggs so prepared and kneaded into bread with flour
give refreshment to patients with coeliac affections.
Some think it more useful, after softening them in
this way, to bake them in shallow pans ; when so pre-
pared they check not only diarrhoea but also excessive
menstruation ; or if the attack is specially severe they
are swallowed raw with flour and water, or the yolks
from these eggs by themselves are boiled hard in
vinegar, and then roasted with ground pepper to
check diarrhoea. There is also made for dysentery
an excellent remedy by pouring an egg into a new
earthen vessel, and so that there may be equal quan-
tities of all the ingredients, in the shell of this egg are
measured honey, then vinegar, and oil, which are
mixed, and stirred many times. The more excellent
the quality of these ingredients the more sovereign
will the remedy be. Others substitute for oil and
vinegar the same amounts of red resin and wine.
There is yet another method of compounding : only
the quantity of oil remains the same, and with it are
boiled down together two sixtieths of a denarius of
pine bark, one of the shrub I have called rhus,* and
five oboli of honey, but no other food must be taken
until four hours have passed. Many also treat colic
by beating up two eggs together with four heads of
garlic, warming with a hemina of wine, and so giving
the mixture as a draught. To omit no attractive
feature of eggs, white of egg mixed with quicklime

215

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

glutinat vitri fragmenta. vis vero tanta est ut
lignum perfusum ovo non ardeat ac ne vestis
quidem contacta aduratur. de gallinarum autem
ovis tantum locuti sumus, cum et reliquarum alitum
restent, magnae utilitatis,1 sicut suis locis dicemus.

52 XII. Praeterea est ovorum genus in magna fama
Galliarum, omissum Graecis. angues ea numerose
convoluti salivis faucium corporumque spumis artifici
conplexu glomerant. urinum appellatur ; 2 Druidae
sibilis id dicunt in sublime iactari sagoque oportere
intercipi ne tellurem attingat, profugere raptorem
equo, serpentes enim insequi donec arceantur amnis
alicuius interventu ; experimentum eius esse, si

53 contra aquas fluitet vel auro vinctum. atque, ut est
Magorum sollertia occultandis fraudibus sagax, certa
luna capiendum censent, tamquam congruere opera-
tionem eam serpentium humani sit arbitrii. vidi
equidem id ovum mali orbiculati modici magnitudine,
crusta cartilagineis velut acetabulis bracchiorum

1 utilitatis V Mayhoff : utilitates ceteri codd., Detlefsen.

2 Sic ego. angues ea numero sex convoluti salivis faucium
corporumque spumis artifici complexu glomerant. uranium
appellatur Detlefsen : angues enim numerose convoluti salivis
faucium corporumque spumis artifici complexu glomerant;
urinum appellatur Mayhoff : ea VRE vulg., Detlefsen : eo d;
del. Hermolaus Barbarus : numero est VRd : numero est
ovorum E vulg. : innumeri aestate Caesarius et Hermolaus
Barbarus : inter sese coni. Mayhoff : glomerantur in unum d :
glomerantur annum multi codd. : glomerantur. anguinum
vulg.

a Or : " nor will cloth either etc."

6 The numerous variants in the MSS. show that the scribes
were as puzzled by this passage as are modern readers. It

216

BOOK XXIX. xi. 51-XII. 53

fastens together broken glass. So great indeed is its
power that wood dipped in egg will not take fire, and
not even cloth a stained with it will burn. But I have
been speaking only about farmyard hen's eggs ; there
remain also other birds, the eggs of which are of
great utility ; about them I shall speak on the
proper occasions.

XII. There is, moreover, a kind of egg which is Thesnake\
very famous in the Gauls, but not mentioned by the e"'
Greeks. Snakes intertwined in great numbers in a
studied embrace make these round objects with the
saliva from their jaws and the foam from their bodies.
It is called a " wind ^gg-" b The Druids say that it
is tossed aloft by the snakes' hisses, and that it ought
to be caught in a military cloak before it can touch
the earth. The catcher, they say, must flee on horse-
back, for the serpents chase him until they are
separated by some intervening river. A test of a
genuine egg is that it floats against the current, even
if it is set in gold. Such is the clever cunning of the
Magi in wrapping up their frauds that they give out as
their opinion that it must be caught at a fixed period
of the moon, as if agreement between snakes and
moon for this act depended upon the will of man. I
indeed have seen this egg. which was like a round
apple of medium size, and remarkable for its hard
covering pitted with many gristly cup-hollows, as it

seems best to keep ea, accept MavhofTs numerose (cf. XXV.
§ 167), and take his urinum (cf. X. §§ 158, 166) as the best
stop-gap for the name of the egg; it is very near the reading
of the MS. d. The vulgate anguinum (serpent's egg) is so
obvious and easy that it is most unlikely to have been cor-
rupted into the variants of our MSS. See A. Blanchet on
ovum anguinum in Bulletin Archeologique du Comite des
Travaux Historiques, 1953, pp. 555-559.

217

PLINV: NATURAL HISTORY

54 polypi crehris insigtie.1 Druidis ad victorias litium
ac regum aditus mire laudatur, tantae vanitatis
ut habentem id in lite in sinu equitem R. e Yocontiis
a divo Claudio principe interemptum non ob aliud
sciam. hic tamen conplexus anguium et frugifera
eorum concordia in causa videtur esse quare exterae
gentes caduceum in pacis argumentis circumdata
effigie anguium fecerint, neque enim cristatos esse in
caduceo mos est.

55 XIII. De anserum ovis magnae utilitatis ipsoque
ansere dicturi hoc in volumine debemus honorem et
commageno, clarissimae rei. fit ex adipe anserum,
alioqui celeberrimi usus, [est ad hoc in Commagene
Syriae parte] 2 cum cinnamo, casia, pipere albo, herba
quae commagene vocatur, obrutis nive vasis, odore
iucundo, utilissimum ad perfrictiones, convulsiones,
caecos aut subitos dolores omniaque quae acopis
curantur, unguentumque pariter et medicamentum

56 est. fit et in Syria alio modo, avium adipe curato ut
dicemus, additis ervsisceptro. xylobalsamo. phoenice,
item tuso 3 calamo. singulorum pondere quod sit
adipis. vino bis aut ter subfervefactum. fit autem
hieme, quoniam aestate non glaciat nisi accepta cera.
niiilta praeterea remedia sunt cx ansere, quod miror

1 insigne codd., Mayhoff : insigni Detiefsen.
8 I ' iicos add. Detlefsen. Pro est Mayhqffset scribit, ei aHoqui
. . . parte in parenthesi.

a item tuso Mayhoff ex Uioscoride : tuso item codd.

a The idea is that if they were crested they would be males,
and so eggless.

b The part in brackets seems to be inoonsisteni with fit et
in Syria alio modo (§ 56).

M.niy acopa are fco be found in Celsus, but they would not
be very effective. For " blind " pains see § 38.

BOOK XXIX. xii. 53-xm. 56

were, like those on the tentacles of an octopus. The
Druids praise it highly as the giver of victory in the
law-courts and of easy access to potentates. Herein
they are guilty of such lying fraud that a Roman
knight of the Yocontii, for keeping one in his bosom
during a lawsuit, was executed by the late Emperor
Claudius, and for no other reason. However, this
embrace and fertile union of snakes seem to be the
reason why foreign nations. when discussing peace
terms, have made the herakTs staff surrounded with
figures of snakes; and it is not the custom for the
snakes on a herald's staff to have a crest.°

XIII. As in this Book I am going to treat of the Thegoose.
very useful goose egg, and of the goose itself, our
respects are due to the famous preparation called
commagenum. It is made from goose grease, a
very popular medicament everywhere, [and for this
purpose especially in Commagene, a district of Syria] b
with cinnamon, cassia, white pepper, and the herb
called commagene. The mixture is put into vessels
and buried in snow; it has a pleasant smell, and is
very useful for chills, sprains, blind or sudden pains,
and for all the complaints treated by anodynes,c
being equally good as an ointment and as a medicine.
It is also prepared in Syria in another way. The
grease of the birds is treated in the manner I shall
describe/ and there are added to it erysisceptrum,
balsam-wood, ground palm, and also crushed reed,
the same quantity of each as of the grease, the whole
being warmed two or three times in wine. But it
must be prepared in winter, for it will not set in
summer unless wax is added. There are many other
remedies made from the goose, which surprise me as

d See § 134 of this book.

219

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

aeque quam in capris, namque anser corvusque ab
aestate in autumnum morbo conflictari dicuntur.

57 XIV. De anserum honore quem meruere Gallorum
in Capitolium ascensu dcprehenso diximus. eadem
de causa supplicia annua canes pendunt inter aedem
Iuventatis et Summani vivi in furca sabucea armo
fixi. sed plura de hoc animali dici cogunt priscorum

58 mores. catulos lactentes adeo puros existimabant
ad cibum ut etiam placandis numinibus hostiarum
vice uterentur iis. Genitae Manae catulo res divina
fit et in cenis deum etiamnunc ponitur catulina.
aditialibus quidem epulis celebrem l fuisse Plauti
fabulae indicio sunt. sanguine canino contra toxica
nihil praestantius putatur, vomitiones quoque hoc
animal monstrasse homini videtur, et alios usus ex eo
mire laudatos referemus suis locis. nunc ad statutum
ordinem pergemus.

59 XV. adversus serpentium ictus efhcacia habentur
fimum pecudis recens in vino decoctum inlitumque,
mures dissecti inpositi. quorum natura non est
spernenda, praecipue in adsensu siderum, ut diximus,
cum lumine lunae fibrarum numero crescente atque
decrescente. tradunt Magi iocinere muris dato

1 celebrem vulg., Mayhoff : celebres codd., Detlefsen.

a See XXVIII. § 153.
» X. §51.

c I.e., because they had failed to give the alarm.
d An old divinity supposed to have presided over child-
birth.

' Probably in the lost play Saturio, mentioned by Festus.

BOOK XXIX. xm. 56-xv. 59

much as the many from the goat,a for the goose and
the crow are said to be afflicted with disease from
the beginning of summer well into the autumn.

XIV. I have spoken b of the fame won by the geese The dog.
which detected the ascent of the Capitoline Hill by

the Gauls. For the same reason c dogs are punished
with death every year, being crucified alive on a cross
of elder between the temple of Juventas and that of
Summanus. But the customs of the ancients compel
me to say several other things about the dog.
Sucking puppies were thought to be such pure food
that they even took the place of sacrificial victims to
placate the divinities. Genita Mana d is worshipped
with the sacrifice of a puppy, and at dinners in
honour of the gods even now puppy flesh is put on
the table. That it was commonly in fact a special
dish at inaugural banquets there is evidence in the
comedies of Plautus/ Dog's blood is supposed to
be the best remedy for arrow poison, and this animal
seems also to have shown mankind the use of emetics.
Other highly praised remedies from the dog I shall
speak of on the appropriate occasions. I will now
go on with my proposed plan./

XV. For snake bites efficacious remedies are con- Snake bites.
sidered to be fresh dung of sheep boiled down in wine

and applied, and mice 9 cut in two and placed on the
wound. The nature of mice is not to be despised,
especially in their agreement, as I have said,A with
the heavenly bodies, for the number of their liver
filaments becomes greater or less with the light of
the moon. The Magi declare that if a mouse's liver

f Of classifying remedies according to diseases.
9 The Latin word will include rats.
h See II. § 109 and XI. § 196.

PLINY: NATLRAL HISTORY

porcis in fico sequi dantem id animal, in homine
quoque similiter valere, sed resolvi cyatho olei poto.

60 XVI. Mustelarum * duo genera, alterum silvestre ;
distant magnitudine, Graeci vocant ictidas. harum
fel contra aspidas dicitur efficax, cetero venenum.
haec autem quae in domibus nostris oberrat et catulos
suos, ut auctor est Cicero, cottidie transfert mutatque
sedem, serpentes persequitur. ex ea inveterata sale
denarii pondus in cyathis tribus datur percussis aut
ventriculus coriandro fartus inveteratusque et in vino
potus, et catulus 2 mustelae etiam efficacius.

61 XVII. Quaedam pudenda dictu tanta auctorum
adseveratione commendantur ut praeterire fas non
sit, siquidem illa concordia rerum aut repugnantia
medicinae gignuntur, veluti cimicum animalis foedis-
simi et dictu quoque fastidiendi natura contra ser-
pentium morsus et praecipue aspidum valere dicitur,
item contra venena omnia, argumento, quod dicant
gallinas quo die ederint non interfici ab aspide carnes

62 quoque earum percussis plurimum prodesse. ex his
quae tradunt humanissimum est inlinere morsibus
cum sanguine testudinis, item suffitu eorum abigere
sanguisugas adhaerentes haustasque ab animalibus
restinguere in potu datis, quamquam et oculos quidam
his inungunt tritis cum sale et lacte mulierum,

1 Warmington genera; distant magnitudine, alterum
silvestre, coni.

2 et catulus E r vulg., Mayhoff : et catulu multi codd. : ex
catulis coni. Dethfsen.

' I d a lost work.
222

BOOK XXIX. xv. 59-xvii. 62

in a fig is offered to pigs, that animal will follow the
offerer, adding that it has a similar effect on a human
being also, but that the spell is broken by drinking
a cyathus of oil.

XVI. Of weasels there are two kinds, one wild and
larger than the other, called by the Greeks ictis.
The gall of both is said to be efficacious against asps,
though otherwise poisonous. The other kind, how-
ever, which strays about our homes, and moves daily,
as Cicero tells us,a its nest and kittens, chases away
snakes. Its flesh, preserved in salt and given in
doses of one denarius by weight, is given in three
cyathi of drink to those who have been bitten, or its
stomach stuffed with coriander seed is kept to dry
and taken in wine. A kitten of the weasel is even
better still for this purpose.

XVII. Certain things, revolting to speak of, are so
strongly recommended by our authorities that it
would not be right to pass them by, if it is indeed true
that medicines are produced by that famous sym-
pathy and antipathy between things. The nature for
instance of bugs, a most foul creature and nauseating
even to speak of, is said to be effective against the
bite of serpents, and especially of asps, as also against
all poisons. As proof, they say that hens are not
killed by an asp on the day they have eaten bugs,
and that their flesh then is most beneficial to such as
have been bitten. Of the accounts given the least
disgusting is how they are applied to bites with the
blood of a tortoise, how fumigation with them makes
leeches loose their hold, and how they destroy leeches
swallowed by animals if administered in drink.
And yet some actually anoint the eyes with bugs
pounded in salt and woman's milk, and the ears with

227,

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

auresque cum melle et rosaceo admixtis. eos qui
agrestes sint et in malva nascantur crematos cinere

63 permixto rosaceo infundunt auribus. cetera quae
de his tradunt, vomitionum et quartanarum remedia
aliorumque morborum, quamquam ovo aut cera aut
faba inclusos censeant devorandos, falsa nec referenda
arbitror. lethargi tantum medicinae cum argumento
adhibent, quoniam vincatur aspidum somnifica vis,
septenos in cyatho aquae dantes, puerilibus annis
quaternos. et in stranguria fistulae inposuere.

64 adeo nihil parens illa rerum omnium sine ingentibus
causis genuit. quin et adalligatos laevo bracchio
binos lana subrepta pastoribus resistere nocturnis
febribus prodiderunt, diurnis in russeo panno. rursus
his adversatur scolopendra suffituque enecat.

65 XVIII. Aspides percussos torpore et somno necant
omnium serpentium minime sanabiles. sed venenum
earum si sanguinem attingit aut recens vulnus, statim
interemit, si inveteratum ulcus, tardius. de cetero
potum quantalibet copia non nocet, non enim est
tabifica vis, itaque occisa morsu earum animalia cibis
innoxia sunt. cunctarer in proferendo ex his
remedio, ni M. Varro LXXIII vitae anno prodidisset
aspidum ictus efficacissime sanari hausta a percussis
ipsorum urina.

66 XIX. Basilisci, quem etiam serpentes ipsae fugiunt,
alias olfactu necantem, qui hominem, vel si aspiciat
224

BOOK XXIX. xvn. 62-xix. 66

bugs in honey and rose oil. Those which are field
bugs and found in mallows are burnt, and the ash
mixed with rose oil is poured into the ears. The
other virtues attributed to bugs, that they are cures
for vomiting, quartans, and other diseases, although
it is prescribed that they should be swallowed in
egg, wax, or a bean, I hold to be imaginary and not
worth repeating. Only as a remedy for lethargy are
they employed with reason, for they overcome the
narcotic poison of asps, and are given in doses of
seven in a cyathus of water, and for children in doses
of four. For strangury bugs have been inserted into
the urethra. So true it is that the Universal Mother
gave birth to nothing without very good reasons.
Furthermore, a couple of bugs attached to the left
arm in wool stolen from shepherds have been said to
keep away night fevers, and day fevers when attached
in a red cloth. On the other hand, the scolopendra
is their enemy, and kills them by fumigation.

XVIII. Asps kill those they strike by torpor and Asps.
coma, inflicting of all serpents the most incurable
bites. But their venom, if it comes into contact
with the blood or a fresh wound, is immediately
fatal, if with an old sore, its action is delayed. Apart
from this, however much is drunk, it is harmless,
having no corrosive property. And so the flesh of
animals killed by their bite may be eaten with safety.

I should hesitate to put forward a remedy obtained
from these creatures, had not Marcus Varro, in
the seventy-third year of his life, recorded that a
sovereign remedy for asp bites is for the victim to
drink his own urine.

XIX. The basilisk, which puts to flight even the ThebasMsk.
very serpents, killing them sometimes by its smell,

225

\OL. VIII. I

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

tantuin, dicitur interimere, sanguinem Magi miris
laudibus celebrant coeuntem picis modo et colore,
dilutum cinnabari clariorem fieri. attribuunt ei suc-
cessus petitionum a potestatibus et a diis etiam pre-
cum, morborum remedia, veneficiorum amuleta.
quidam id Saturni sanguinem appellant.

67 XX. Draco non habet venena. caput eius limini
ianuarum subditum propitiatis adoratione diis for-
tunatam domum facere promittitur, oculis eius in-
veteratis et cum melle tritis inunctos non expavescere
ad nocturnas imagines etiam pavidos, cordis pingue
in pelle dorcadum nervis cervinis adalligatum in
lacerto conferre iudiciorum victoriae, primum *
spondylum aditus potestatium mulcere, dentes eius
inligatos pellibus caprearum cervinis nervis mites
praestare dominos potestatesque exorabiles. sed

68 super omnia est compositio qua invictos faciunt
Magorum mendacia : cauda draconis et capite, pilis
leonis e fronte et medulla eiusdem, equi victoris
spuma, canis ungue adalligatis cervino corio nervis-
que cervi alternatis et dorcadis. quae coarguisse non
minus referet quam contra serpentes remedia demon-
strasse, quoniam et haec Magorum 2 veneficia 3 sunt.

1 victoriae, primum codd., Detlefsen : victoriae plurimum,
Mayhoff.

2 Magorum Detlefsen : illorum Mayhoff : morum VR :
morborum d E vulg.

3 veneficia VRd, Mayhoff : beneficia E vulg., Detlefsen.

" Or, " when diluted with cinnabar."

b Probably the python and similar snakes.

226

BOOK XXIX. xix. 66-xx. 68

is said to be fatal to a man if it only looks at him. Its
blood the Magi praise to the skies, telling how it
thickens as does pitch, and resembles pitch in colour,
but becomes a brighter red than cinnabar0 when
diluted. They claim that by it petitions to poten-
tates, and even prayers to the gods, are made success-
ful ; that it provides cures for disease and amulets
against sorcery. Some call it " Saturn's blood."

XX. The dragon b has no venom. Its head, buried Draco.
under the threshold of doors after the gods have been
propitiated by worship, brings, we are assured, good
luck to a home ; those rubbed with an ointment of
his eyes, dried and beaten up with honey, are not
panic-stricken, however nervous, by phantoms of the
night; the fat of the heart, tied in the skin of a
gazelle on the upper arm by deer sinew, makes for
victory in law-suits ; the first c vertebra smooths the
approach to potentates ; and its teeth, wrapped in
the skin of a roe and tied on with deer sinew, make
masters kind and potentates gracious. But all these
are nothing compared with a mixture that the lying
Magi assert makes men invincible, composed of : the
tail and head of a dragon, hair from the forehead of
a lion and lion's marrow, foam of a victorious race-
horse, and the claw of a dog, all attached in deer hide
with deer sinew and gazelle sinew plaited alternately.
To expose these lies will be no less worth while than to
describe their remedies for snake bite, for these too
are some of the sorceries d of the Magi. Dragon's

c With Mayhoff's emendation : " great success in law-suits,
a vertebra smooths etc."

d With Detlefsen's reading : " for these too are among the
blessings bestowed by the Magi." This, if sarcastic, makes
sense.

227

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

draconum adipem venenata fugiimt, item, si uratur,
ichneumonum, fugiunt et urtieis tritis in aceto
perunctos.

69 XXI. Yiperae caput inpositum, vel alterius quani
quae percusserit, sine fine x prodest, item si quis ipsam
eam in vapore baculo sustineat, aiunt enim re-2
eanere, item si quis exustae eiusdem cinere inlinat.
reverti autem ad percussum serpentem necessitate
naturae Nigidius auctor est. caput quidam 3 dissecant
scite 4 inter aures ad eximendum lapillum quem
aiunt ab ea devorari territa. alii ipso toto capite

70 utuntur. tiunt ex vipera pastilli qui theriaci vocantur
a Graecis, ternis digitis mensura utrimque ampu-
tatis exemptisque interaneis et livore spinae ad-
haerente, reliquo corpore in patina ex aqua et aneto
discocto spinisque exemptis et addita similagine
atque ita in umbra siccatis pastillis quibus ad multa
medicamenta utuntur. significandum videtur e vipera
tantum hoc fieri. quidam purgatae ut supra dictum
est adipem cum olei sextario decocunt ad dimidias.
ex eo, cum opus sit, ternis stillis additis in oleum
perunguntur ut omnes bestiae fugiant eos.

71 XXII. Praeterea constat contra omnium ictus
quamvis insanabiles ipsarum serpentium exta inposita
auxiliari, eosque qui aliquando viperae iecur coctum
hauserint numquam postea feriri a serpente. neque
anguis venenatus est nisi per mensem 5 luna instiga-

1 Warmington percusserit, sane prodest coni

2 recanere Sillig (cf. XXVIII. 19) : praecanere codd.

3 quidam VTE: quidem aliquot codd.

4 scite VTE: Scythae aliquot codd.

5 per mensem R vulg. Mayhoff, qui primo mense coni.

a Mayhoff s primo mense would mean : " in the early part
of the month." A contraction oiprimo might easily be taken

BOOK XXIX. xx. 68-xxn. 71

fat is shunned by venomous creatures, and so too,
when burnt, is that of the ichneumon ; they shun
too those rubbed with nettles pounded in vinegar.

XXI. The head of a viper, placed on the bite, even The viper.
though the same viper did not inflict it, is infinitely
beneficial, as is the snake itself, held up on a stick in
steam — it is said to undo the harm done — or if the

viper is burnt and the ash applied. But Nigidius
asserts that a serpent instinctively comes back to the
person it has bitten. Some split skilfully the head
between the ears, in order to extract the pebble it is
said to swallow when alarmed, but others use the en-
tire head itself. From the viper are made the lozenges
called by the Greeks theriaci. Lengths of three fingers
are cut off from head and tail, the intestines drawn
with the livid part that adheres to the spine, the rest
of the body, with the vertebrae extracted and fine
flour added, is thoroughly boiled in a pan of water with
dill, and the mixture dried in the shade and made into
lozenges, which are used in making many medica-
ments. We must note, it appears, that only from
the viper can the preparation be made. Some take
the fat from the body, cleaned as described above,
boil down with a sectarius of oil to one-half, add
three drops from it when necessary to oil, and use as
ointment to keep off all harmful creatures.

XXII. Furthermore, it is well known that the Snakes.
application of the entrails of a serpent itself is a help

for the bites however hard to cure of any of them, and
that those who once have swallowed the boiled liver
of a viper are never afterwards bitten by a serpent.
A snake too is venomous only when during the month a

for per, and the change of mense to mensem would naturally
follow.

229

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

tus, et prodest vivus conprehensus et in aqua con-

72 tusus, si foveantur ita morsus. quin et inesse ei
remedia multa creduntur. ut digeremus, et idco
Aesculapio dicatur. Democritus quidem monstra
quaedam ex his l confingit ut possint avium sermones
intellegi.2 anguis Aesculapius Epidauro Romam
advectus est vulgoque pascitur et in domibus, ac nisi
incendiis semina exurerentur, non esset fecunditati
eorum resistere.3 in orbe terrarum puleherrimum
anguium genus est quod et in aqua vivit, hydri
vocantur, nullo serpentium inferiores veneno. horum
iecur servatum adversus percussos ab his auxilium
est. scorpio tritus stelionum veneno adversatur.

73 fit enim ex stelionibus malum medicamentum.
nam cum inmortuus est vino, faciem eorum qui
biberint lentigine obducit. ob hoc in unguento
necant eum insidiantes pelicum formae. remedium
est ovi luteum et mel ac nitrum. fel stelionum tritum
in aqua mustelas congregare dicitur.

74 XXIII. Inter omnia venenata salamandrae scelus
maximum est. cetera enim singulos feriunt. nec

1 ex his codd. : et hic coni. Mayhoff : an post ut ponendum ?

2 Post intellegi excidisse angue devorato putat Mayhoff.
Fortasse devorato angue.

3 Punctum non post resistere sed post terraruin ponil May-
hoff ex cod. Dal. : in urbe. terrestrium coni. Mayhoff.

a The words ex his seeni in the wrong place, and Mayhoff
would change to et hic, " here too." A transposition to the
ut clause would be simpler.

6 If the words in orbe terrarum arc placcd here the meaning
will bc : " a plague all over the world," and in domibus : " in
homes cverywhere."

230

BOOK XXIX. xxn. 71-xxm. 74

it is angered by the moon, and it is beneficial if a
snake is caught alive, beaten up in water, and a bite
fomented with the preparation. Moreover, many
remedies are believed to be obtained from a snake, as
I shall relate in their proper order, and this is why it is
sacred to Aesculapius. Democritus indeed invents
some weird stories about snakes, how for instance they
make ita possible to understand the language of birds.
The Aesculapian snake was brought to Rome from
Epidaurus, and a snake is commonly kept as a pet even
in our homes ; so that were not their eggs destroyed
in fires there would be an incurable plague of them.6
The most beautiful snake in the world is the kind,
called hydri, that is amphibious, no other snake being
more venomous. Its liver when preserved does good
to those who have been bitten.c The scorpion when
pounded up counteracts the poison of the spotted
lizard,d for there is made from these lizards an evil
drug : if one has been drowned in wine it covers the
face of those who drink it with an eruption of freckle-
like spots. So women, plotting to spoil the beauty
of rival courtezans, kill a spotted lizard in the oint-
ment used by them. The remedy is yolk of egg,
honey. and soda. The gall of this kind of lizard,
beaten up in water, is said to attract weasels.

XXIII. Of all venomous creatures the salamander
is the most wicked, for while the others strike

c In this chapter there is certainly a distinction between
serpens and anguis. It is especially noticeable in § 71, where
neque anguis follows immediately after a serpente. In this
part of Pliny, at any rate, anguis includes the common or grass
snake, but the proverb latet anguis in herba shows that it
sometimes meant a poisonous serpent. Littre is not con-
sistent; after using couleurre in § 71, he later uses serpent.

d Often called gecko.

231

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

plures pariter interimunt, ut omittam quod perire
conseientia dicuntur homine percusso neque amplius
admitti a terra, salamandra populos pariter necare
inprovidos potest. nam si arbori inrepsit, omnia
poma inficit veneno, et eos qui ederint necat frigida

75 vi nihil aconito distans. quin immo si contacto ab
ea ligno vel lapidi x crusta panis inponatur, idem vene-
ficium est, vel si in puteum cadat, quippe cum saliva
eius quacumque parte corporis vel in pede imo
respersa omnis in toto corpore defluat pilus. tamen
talis ac tanti veneni a quibusdam animalium, ut subus,

76 manditur. dominante, eadem illa rerum dissidentia
venenum eius restingui primum omnium ab his quae
vescantur illa verisimile est, ex his vero quae pro-
bantur cantharidum potu aut lacerta in cibo sumpta.
cetera adversantia diximus dicemusque suis locis.
ex ipsa quae Magi tradunt contra incendia, quoniam
ignes sola animalium extinguat, si forent vera, iam
esset experta Roma. Sextius venerem accendi cibo
earum, si detractis interaneis et pedibus et capite in
melle serventur, tradit negatque restingui ignem ab
his.

77 XXIV. E volucribus in auxilium contra serpentes
primum vultures. adnotatum quoque minus virium

1 vel lapidi crusta panis inponatur Mayhoff, sed sine vel,
quod ego servo : vel pedis crista panis incocatur Detlefsen : vel
pidis V'd : vel pedis E : crista V'R : invocatur R'E : inco-
catur multi codd. : " sed locus nondum sanatus" Mayhoff.

a See §§ 92-94, where applied externally cantharides are
said to be useful, but taken in drink poisonous.

6 The salamander of modern zoology is a timid creature,
and not vcnomous to man.

232

BOOK XXIX. xxilL 74-xxiv. 77

individuals, and do not kill several together, to sav
nothing (according to report) of their dying of remorse
when they have bitten a man, and of earth's refusal to
grant them further admission, the salamander can kill
whole tribes unawares. For if it has crawled into a
tree, it infects with its venom all the fruit, killing like
aconite by its freezing property those who have eaten
of it. Nay , moreover, if a slice of bread is placed upon
wood or stone that has been touched by a salamander,
or if one falls into a well, the bread and the water,
like the fruit, are poisoned, while all the hair on the
whole body falls off if its saliva has sprinkled any part
whatever of the body, even the sole of the foot.
Xevertheless, although it is so venomous a creature,
some animals, such as pigs, eat it. Under the swav
of that same antipathy between things it is likely that
his venom is neutralized best of all by those who eat
the salamander ; but among approved remedies are
cantharides ° taken in drink or a lizard taken in food.
The other antidotes I have spoken of, and shall speak
of, in the appropriate places. As to the power to
protect against fires, which the Magi attribute to
the animal, since according to them 110 other can put
fire out, could the salamander really do so, Rome bv
trial would have already found out. Sextius tells us
that as food the salamander, preserved in honey after
entrails, feet, and head have been cut away, is
aphrodisiac, but he denies its power to put fire out.^
XXIV. Of birds, the chief protection against
serpents is the vulture, and it has been noticed
that there is less powerc in the black vulture.

e Pliny uses the plural (virium) because Latin has no
genitive singular of vis. The phrase can hardly mean that a
black vulture is a weaker bird than other vultures.

233

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

esse nigris. pinnarum ex his x nidore, si urantur,
fugari eas dicunt, item cor eius alitis habentes tutos
esse ab impetu non solum serpentium sed etiam
ferarum latronumque et regum ira.

78 XXV. Carnibus gallinaceorum ita ut tepebunt
avulsae adpositis venena serpentium domantur,
item cerebro in vino poto. Parthi gallinae malunt
cerebrum plagis inponere. ius quoque ex his potum
praeclare medetur et in multis aliis usibus mirabile.
Pantherae, leones non attingunt perunctos eo, prae-

79 cipue si et alium fuerit incoctum. alvum solvit
validius e vetere gallinaceo, prodest et contra longin-
quas febres et torpentibus membris tremulisque et
articulariis morbis et capitis doloribus, epiphoris,
inflationibus, fastidiis, incipiente tenesmo, iocineri,
renibus, vesicae, contra cruditates, suspiria. itaque
etiam faciendi eius extant praecepta : efficacius coci
cum olere marino aut cybio aut cappari aut apio aut
herba Mercuriali, polypodio aut aneto, utilissime
autem in conijiis tribus aquae ad tres heminas cum
supra dictis herbis et refrigeratum sub diu dari
tempestivis antecedente vomitione. non praeteribo
miraculum quamquam ad medicinam non pertinens :
si auro liquescenti gallinarum membra misceantur,
consumunt id in se. ita hoc venenum auri est. at
gallinacei ipsi circulo e ramentis addito in collum
non canunt.

1 his codd. : alis Mayhoff, e Sereno.

a Mayhoffs correction, alis for his, would give " burning
wing-feathers.''

234

BOOK XXIX. xxiv. 77-xxv. 79

They say that the fumes of their a burning feathers
chase serpents away, and that those who carrv
about them a vulture's heart are protected not
only from the attacks of serpents, but also from
those of wild beasts, bandits, and angry poten-
tates.

XXV. The flesh of chickens, torn away and applied Chickens.
warm to the bite, overcomes the venom of serpents,
as will also a chicken's brain taken in wine. The
Parthians prefer to put on the wound the brain of
a hen. Chicken broth also, taken by the mouth,
is a splendid remedy, being wonderfully good for
many other purposes. Panthers and lions do not
touch those rubbed over with this broth, especially if
garlic has been boiled in it. A rather powerful purge
is the broth of an old cock, which is also good for
prolonged fevers, paralysed and palsied limbs,
diseases of the joints, headaches, eye-fluxes, flatu-
lence, loss of appetite, incipient tenesmus, complaints
of liver, kidneys, and bladder, indigestion and asthma.
And so instructions even are current for making it :
they tell us that it is more effective boiled with sea-
cabbage, or tunny-nsh, or caper, or celery, or the
herb mercury, with polypodium or dill, but most
beneficial when three congii of water are boiled down
to three heminae, with the above-mentioned herbs,
cooled in the open air and administered, the
best time being when an emetic has preceded. I
will not pass over a marvel, though it has nothing to
do with medicine : if the limbs of hens are stirred up
in melted gold they absorb it all into themselvcs,
so violent a poison of gold is chicken. But cocks
themselves do not crow if they have a collar of gold
shavings round their necks.

235.

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

81 XXVI. Auxiliatur contra serpentes et columbarum
caro recens concerpta et hirundinum, bubonis pedes
usti cum plumbagine herba. nec omittam in hac
quoque alite exemplum magicae vanitatis, quippe
praeter reliqua portentosa mendacia cor eius in-
positum mammae mulieris dormientis sinistrae
tradunt emcere ut omnia secreta pronuntiet, prae-

82 terea in pugnam ferentes id fortiores fieri. eiusdem
ovo ad capillum remedia demonstrant. quis enim,
quaeso, ovum bubonis umquam visere potuit, cum
ipsam avem vidisse prodigium sit? quis utique
experiri et praecipue in capillo? sanguine quidem
pulli bubonis etiam crispari capillum promittunt.

83 cuius generis prope videri possint quae tradunt et
de vespertilione, si ter circumlatus domui vivus per *
fenestram inverso capite infigatur, amuletum esse,
privatimque ovilibus circumlatum totiens et pedibus
suspensum susum super limine. sanguinem quoque
eius cum carduo contra serpentium ictus inter
praecipua laudant.

84 XXVII. Phalangium est Italiae ignotum et plurium
generum : unum simile formicae, sed multo maius,
rufo capite, reliqua parte corporis nigra, albis guttis.
acerbior huius quam vespae ictus. vivit maxime
circa furnos et molas. in remedio est, si quis eiusdem
generis alterum percusso ostendat, et ad hoc ser-
vantur mortui. inveniuntur et cortices eorum qui
triti et poti medentur ; mustelae catuli ut supra.2

1 per codd. : super Mayhoff.

2 mustelae catuli ut supra.] Omittunt Urlichs et Detlefsen.

a With Mayhoff's reading " over."

6 Why mortui (masculine) when phalangium is neuter ?
Perhaps aranei was in Plinv's mind.

c See § 60 of this Book.
236

BOOK XXIX. xxvi. 81 -xxvii. 84

XXVI. A help against snake-bite is also flesh of Remedies:
doves or swallows freshly torn away. and the feet of a fror
horned owl burnt with the herb plumbago. Speakin^

of this bird I will not omit a specimen of Magian
fraud, for besides their other monstrous lies they
declare that an horned owl's heart, placed on the left
breast of a sleeping woman, makes her tell all her
secrets, and that men carrying it into battle are made
braver by it. From the horned owl's egg they
prescribe recipes for the hair. Now who, I ask,
could have ever looked at an horned owl's egg, when
it is a portent to have seen the bird itself ? Who in
any case could have tried it, particularly on the hair r
The blood, indeed, of a horned owl's chick is
guaranteed even to curl the hair. Of much the same
kind would seem to be also their stories about the
bat : that if carried alive three times round the house
and then fastened head downwards through a the
window, it acts as a talisman, and is specifically such
to sheepfolds if carried round them three times and
hung up by the feet over the threshold. Its blood
also with "thistle the Magi praise as one of the
sovereign remedies for snake-bite.

XXVII. The phalangium is unknown to Italy and The

of several kinds. One is like the ant, but much vhoiangium
larger, having a red head and the rest of the body
black with white spots. Its wound is more painful
than that of the wasp, and it lives especially near
furnaces and mills. One remedy is to show to the
bitten person another phalangium of the same kind ;
for this purpose are kept dead b specimens. Their
dry bodies are also found, which are pounded and
taken as a remedy, as are a weasel's young prepared
as I have described.0 Among classes of spiders the

237

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

85 aeque phalangion Graeci vocant inter genera ara-
neorum, scd distingunt ltipi nomine. tertium genus
est eodem phalangi nomine araneus lanuginosus
grandissimo capite, quo dissecto inveniri intus
dicuntur vermiculi duo adalligatique mulieribus pelle
cervina ante solis ortum praestare ne concipiant, ut
Caecilius in commentariis reliquit. vis ea annua est,
quam solam ex omni atocio dixisse fas sit, quoniam
aliquarum fecunditas plena liberis tali venia indiget.

86 vocatur et rhox acino nigro similis, ore minimo sub
alvo, pedibus brevissimis tamquam inperfectis.
dolor a morsu eius qualis a scorpione, urina similis
araneis textis. idem erat asterion, nisi distingueretur
virgulis albis. huius morsus genua labefactat. peior
utroque est caeruleus, lanugine nigra, caliginem
concitans et vomitus araneosos. etiamnum deterior
a crabrone pinna tantum differens. hic et ad

87 maciem perducit. myrmecion formicae similis capite,
alvo nigra, guttis albis distinguentibus, vesparum
dolore torquet. tetragnathii duo genera habent :
peior medium caput distinguente linea alba et trans-
versum altera ; hic oris tumorem facit. at cinereus
posteriore parte candicans lentior, minime autem
noxius eodem colore qui telas muscis in parietibus

88 latissime pandit. contra omnium morsus remedio est
gallinaceorum cerebrum cum piperis exiguo potum iri

a Or: " and then the nrine looks like spirier's web."
b I.e., " four-jawed."

238

BOOK XXIX. xxvii. 85-88

Greeks also include a phalangion which they dis-
tinguish by the name of " wolf." There is also a
third kind of phalangium, a hairy spider with an
enormous head. When this is cut open, there are
said to be found inside two little worms, which, tied
in deer skin as an amulet on women before sunrise,
act as a contraceptive, as Caecilius has told us in his
Commentarii. They retain this property for a year.
Of all such preventives this only would it be right for
me to mention, to help those women who are so
prolific that they stand in need of such a respite.
There is another phalangium called rhox, like a black
grape, with a verv small mouth under the abdomen,
and very short legs as though not fully grown. Its
bite is as painful as a scorpion's sting, forming in the
urine as it were spider's web.a The asterion is exactly
like it, except that it is marked with white streaks.
Its bite makes the knees weak. Worse than either
is the blue spider ; it is covered with black hair, and
causes dimness of vision and vomit like spider's web.
There is an even worse phalangium, which differs
from the hornet only in having no wings. The bite
from one of this kind also makes the body thin. The
myrmecion in its head resembles the ant, with a
black body marked by white spots, and a bite as
painful as a wasp. There are two kinds of the
phalangium called tetragnathius,6 the worse of which
has two white lines crossed on the middle of its head,
and its bite makes the mouth swell ; but the ash-
coloured kind, which is whitish in its hind part, is less
vicious. Least dangerous of all is the ash-coloured
spider which spins its web all over our walls to catch
flies. For the bites of all spiders remedial is a cock's
brain with a little pepper taken in vinegar and water,

239

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

posca, item formicae quinque potae, pecudum nnii
cinis inlitus ex aceto et ipsi aranei quicumque in oleo
putrefacti. muris aranci morsus sanatur coagulo agni
e vino * poto, ungulae arietinae cinere cum melle,
mustelae catulo ut in serpentibus dictum est. si
iumenta momorderit, mus recens cum sale inponitur

89 aut fel vespertilionis ex aceto. et ipse mus araneus
contra se remedio est divulsus inpositus. nam si
praegnas momordit, protinus dissilit. optimum, si
is inponatur qui momorderit, sed et alios ad hunc
usum servant in oleo aut luto circumlitos. est et
contra morsum eius remedio terra ex orbita, ferunt
enim non transiri ab eo orbitam torpore quodam
naturae.

90 XX VI II. Scorpionibus contrarius maxime invicem
stelio traditur, ut visu quoque pavorem his adferat et
torporem frigidi sudoris. itaque in oleo putrefaciunt
eum et ita ea vulnera perungunt. quidam oleo illo
spumam argenteam decocunt ad emplastri genus
atque ita inlinunt. hunc Graeci coloten vocant et
ascalaboten et galeoten. in Italia non nascitur.
est enim hic plenus lentigine, stridoris acerbi, et
vescitur araneis,2 quae omnia a nostris stelionibus
aliena sunt.

91 XXIX. Prodest et gallinarum fimi cinis inlitus,
draconis iocur, lacerta divulsa, mus divulsus, scorpio

1 agni e vino ex Plinio Iuniore Mayhoff : agnino Detlefsen :
agne vino r : anguino Vd.

2 araneis add. Urlichs ex Arist. Hist. Anim. IX. 1 : herba
vet. Dal. : vermibus coni. Ianus : illis (sc. scorpionibus) coni.
Mayhoff.

a See § 60 of this Book.

b Possibly invicem here means " mutuallv."

240

BOOK XXIX. xxvii. 88-xxix. 91

five ants also taken in drink, the ash of sheep's dung
applied in vinegar, or spiders themselves of any sort
that have rotted in oil.

The bite of the shrew-mouse is healed by lamb's Theshrew-
rennet taken in wine, by the ash of a ram's hoof with mouse-
honey, and by a young weasel, as I have prescribed
for snake-bite.° If it has bitten draught-animals, a
freshly killed mouse is applied with salt, or a bat's
gall in vinegar. The shrew-mouse itself, torn
asunder and applied, is a remedy for its own bite ;
but if a pregnant shrew-mouse has bitten, it bursts
open at once. It is best if the mouse applied is the
one which gave the bite, but they preserve them for
this purpose in oil, or enclosed in clay. Another
remedv for its bite is earth from a wheel rut. For
they say that it will not cross a wheel rut owing to a
sort of natural torpor.

XXVIII. The stelio is said in its turn^ to be such a uzards.
great enemy to scorpions that the mere sight of one
strikes them with panic, and torpor with cold sweat.
Accordingly they let it rot in oil and so smear on
scorpion wounds. Some boil down that oil with
litharge to make a sort of ointment which they thus
apply. This lizard the Greeks call colotes, ascala-
botes, or, galeotes. This kind is not found in Italy,

for it is covered with spots, has a shrill cry, and feeds
on spiders, all which characteristics are lacking in
our stelios.c

XXIX. Beneficial too is ash of hen's dung applied,
the liver of a python,'* a lizard or a mouse torn open,

c Pliny has just said that the stelio is not native to Italy,
but now speaks of " our stehos." Littre translates " nos
lezards," taking nostris stelionibus to be used loosely.

d See XXIX. § 67, 68.

241

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

ipse suae plagae inpositus aut assus in cibo sumptus
aut potus in meri cyathis duobus. proprium est
scorpionum quod manus palmam non feriunt nec
nisi * pilosa 2 attingere. lapillus qualiscumque ab ea
parte quae in terra erat adpositus plagae levat
dolorem, item testa terra operta ex aliqua parte sicut
erat inposita liberare dicitur — non debent respicere
qui inponunt et cavere ne sol aspiciat — vermes terreni

02 triti inpositi. multa et alia ex his remedia sunt
propter quae in melle servantur. noctua apibus
contraria et vespis crabronibusque et sanguisugis,
pici quoque Martii rostrum secum habentes non
feriuntur ab his. adversantur et locustarum minimae
sine pinnis, quas attelebos vocant. est et formicarum
genus venenatum, non fere iii Italia. solipugas
Cicero appellat, salpugas Baetica, his cor vesperti-
lionis contrarium omnibusque formicis. salamandris
cantharidas diximus resistere.

93 XXX. Sed in his magna quaestio, quoniam ipsae
venena sunt potae vesicae cum cruciatu praecipuo.
Cossinum equitem Romanum amicitia Neronis
principis notum, cum is lichene correptus esset,
vocatus Aegypto medicus ob hanc valetudinem eius
a Caesare, cum cantharidum potum praeparare
voluisset, interemit. verum inlitas prodesse non
dubium est cum suco taminiae uvae et sebo ovis vel

1 nisi codd. : visi Io. Muller, Mayhoff.

- pilosa Ianus, Detlefsen : pilos Mayhoff, codd.

" With M;i\h</ff's reading : " nor have they been seen to
touch hairs." The change from quod with the indicative to
the infinitive attingere is strange, and the emendation visi may
be right.

6 See § 76 ofthia Book.

242

BOOK XXIX. xxix. 91-xxx. 93

the scorpion laid on the wound it has itself inflicted,
or roasted and taken in food or in two cyathi of neat
wine. Scorpions are peculiar in that they do not
sting the palm of the hand or touch any but hairv
parts.a A pebble of any kind, if the part next the
ground is laid on the wound, relieves the pain, and a
potsherd too is said to be a cure if a part covered with
earth is applied just as it was taken up — those making
the application must not look back, and must take
care that the sun does not behold them — and another
cure is an application of pounded earth-worms.
Manv other remedies are obtained from earth-worms,
so they are kept in honey for this purpose. The
night owl is an enemy of bees, wasps, hornets, and
leeches, and those are not stung by them who carry
about their person a beak of the woodpecker of Mars.
Hostile to them are also the smallest of the locusts,
which are wingless and called attelebi. There is also a
venomous kind of ant, not generally found in Italy.
Cicero calls it solipuga and in Baetica it is called
salpuga. A bat's heart is hostile to these, as it is to
all ants. I have said b that cantharides are hostile
to salamanders.

XXX. But herein arises a much-disputed question, Spanish
for the fly taken in drink is a poison, causing excru- ^y'
ciating pain in the bladder. Cossinus, a Roman
knight, well known for his friendship with the
Emperor Xero, fell a victim to lichen.c Caesar called
in a specialist physician from Egypt, who decided on
preliminary treatment with Spanish fly taken in
drink, and the patient died. But there is no doubt
that, with juice of taminian grapes, sheep suet, or
that of a she-goat, an external application is beneficial.

f See List of Diseases.

243

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

94 daprae. ipsarum cantharidum venenum in qua parte
sit non constat inter auctores. alii in pedibus et in
capite existimant esse, alii negant. convenit tantum
pinnas earum auxiliari, in quacumque parte sit vene-
num. ipsae nascuntur ex vermiculo, in spongea
maxime cynorrhodi quae fit in caule, sed fecundis-
sime in fraxino; ceterae in alba rosa, minus efficaces.
potentissimae inter omnes variae, luteis lineis quas
in pinnis transversas habent, pingues ; multum x in-
ertiores minutae, latae, pilosae, inutilissimae vero

95 unius coloris macrae. conduntur in calice fictili non
picato et linteo conligato, contectae 2 rosa matura, et
suspenduntur super acetum cum sale fervens donec
per linteolum vaporentur, postea reponuntur. vis
earum adurere corpus, crustas obducere. eadem pit-
yocampis in picea nascentibus, eadem bupresti, simili-
terque praeparantur. efficacissimae omnes ad lepras,
lichenas, dicuntur et menses ciere et urinam, ideo

96 Hippocrates et hydropicis dabat. cantharides ob-
iectae sunt Catoni Uticensi, ceu venenum vendidisset
in auctione regia, quoniam eas HS Lx addixerat.
et sebum autem struthocamelinum tunc venisse
HS xxx obiter dictum sit, efficacioris ad omnia usus
quam est anserinus adips.

1 pingues ; multum Urlichs : multum pingues codd.

2 contectae lanus : coniecta et Mayhoff : coniectae codd.

a This description suggests " Robin's pin-cushions," caused
by the gall-wasp, and not a beetle. There were probably
several kinds of cantharides.

244

BOOK XXIX. xxx. 94-96

In what part of the Spanish fly a itself the poison lies
authorities disagree ; some think in the feet and in
the head, but others say not. The only point agreed
upon is that, wherever the poison lies, their wings
help.6 The fly itself is bred from a grub found in the
sponge-like substance on the stalk of the wild rose
especially, but also very plentifully on the ash. The
third kind breeds on the white rose, but is less
emcacious. The most potent flies of all are marked
with yellow lines across their wings and are plump ;
much less potent are those that are small, broad and
hairy ; the least useful however are of one colour,
and thin. They are stored away in an earthen pot,
not lined with pitch, but the mouth closed with a
cloth. They are covered with full-blown roses and
hung over boiling vinegar and salt until the steam,
passing through the cloth, sufFocates them. Then
they are stored away. Their property is to cauterise
the flesh and to form scabs. Of the same character
is the pine-caterpillar, which is found on the pitch-
pine, and the buprestis, and they are prepared in a
similar way. All these are very efficacious for
leprous sores and lichen. They are also said to be
emmenagogue and diuretic, and so Hippocrates c
used them also for dropsy. Spanish fly was the
subject of a charge against Cato Uticensis that he
had sold poison at an auction of royal property, for
he had knocked some down for 60,000 sesterces.
And I may remark in passing that at this sale there
was sold for 30,000 sesterces ostrich suet, a far more
useful fat for all purposes than goose-grease.

b A mysterious sentence, that might mean either that the
wings increase the poison, or that they are remedial.
c Regimen in Acute Diseases, 104.

245

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

07 XXXI. Diximus et mellis venenati genera ; contra
utuntur melle in quo apes sint mortuae. idem potum
in vino remedium est vitiorum quae e cibo piscium
gignuntur.

98 XXXII. In canis rabidi morsu tuetur a pavore
aquae canini capitis cinis inlitus vulneri, oportet
autem comburi omnia eodem modo, ut semel dica-
mus, in vase fictili novo argilla circumlito atque ita in
furnum indito. idem et in potione proficit. quidam
ob id edendum dederunt. aliqui et vermem e cada-
vere canino adalligavere menstruave canis in panno
subdidere calici aut intus x ipsius caudae pilos com-

99 bustos inseruere vulneri. cor caninum habentem
fugiunt canes, non latrant vero lingua canina in cal-
ciamento subdita pollici aut caudam mustelae quae
abscissa ea dimissa sit habentes. est limus salivac
sub lingua rabiosi canis qui datus in potu hydrophobos
fieri non patitur, multo tamen utilissime iocur eius
qui in rabie momorderit datur, si fieri possit, crudum
mandendum, sin minus, quoquo modo coctum, aut

100 ius coctis carnibus. est vermiculus in lingua canum
qui vocatur a Graecis lytta, quo exempto infantibus
catulis nec rabidi tiunt nec fastidium sentiunt. idem
ter igni circumlatus datur morsis a rabioso ne rabidi

1 intus] " an imos (vel jpotius calciamentis ])ro caliciau-
tintus) ? " Mayhoff.

a Book XXI, § 74.

h Mayhoff' s clever emendation of calciamentis for caliciaut
intua would give : " placed the fluid in a cloth at the bottom
(sub-) of the shoes." But it gives rather a strange meaning
to subdidere, and intus is just possible as indicating the under
part brlwcon thr tail and the body.

246

BOOK XXIX. xxxi. 97-xxxn. ioo

XXXI. I have also mentioned a kinds of poisonous
honey. To counteract it honey is used in which bees
have died. The same honey is also a remedy for ill-
ness caused by eating fish.

XXXII. If a person has been bitten by a mad dog, Maddogs
protection from hydrophobia is given by an applica- J^^f*™"
tion to the wound of ash from the burnt head of a dog.

Now all reduction to ash (that I may describe it once
for all) should be carried out in the following way :
a new earthen vessel is covered all over with clay and
so put into a furnace. The same method is also good
when the ash is to be taken in drink. Some have
prescribed as a cure eating a dog's head. Others too
have used as an amulet a worm from a dead dog, or
placed in a cloth under the cup the sexual fluid of a
bitch, or have rubbed into the wound the ash from
the hair under b the tail of the mad dog itself. Dogs
run away from one who carries a dog's heart, and
indeed do not bark if a dog's tongue is placed in the
shoe under the big toe, or at those who carry the
severed tail of a weasel which has afterwards been
set free. Under the tongue of a mad dog is a slimy
saliva, which given in drink prevents hydrophobia,
but much the most useful remedy is the liver of the
dog that bit in his madness to be eaten raw, if that
can be done, if it cannot, cooked in any way, or a
broth must be made from the boiled flesh. There is
a little worm c on the tongue of dogs which the
Greeks call lytta (madness), and if this is taken away
when they are baby puppies they neither go mad
nor lose their appetite. It is also carried three times
round fire and given to those bitten by a mad dog to

c Really white pustules under the tongue, which break of
their own aecord when the puppies are twelvc days old.

247

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

fiant. et cerebello gallinaceo occurritur, sed id de-
voratum anno tantum eo prodest. aiunt et cristam
galli contritam efficaciter inponi et anseris adipem
cum melle. saliuntur et carnes eorum qui rabidi

101 fuerunt ad eadem remedia in cibo dandae. quin et
necantur catuli statim in aqua ad sexum eius qui
momorderit, ut iocur crudum devoretur ex iis. pro-
dest et fimum gallinaceum, dumtaxat rufum, ex
aceto inpositum et muris aranei caudae cinis, ita
ut ipse cui abscissa sit vivus dimittatur, glaebula ex
hirundinum nido inlita ex aceto, vel pulli hirundinis
combusti.membrana sivesenectus anguium vernatione
exuta cum cancro masculo ex vino trita, (nam hac J
etiam per se reposita in arcis armariisque tineas necant)

102 mali tanta vis est ut urina quoque calcata rabiosi
canis noceat, maxime ulcus habentibus. remedio est
fimum caballinum adspersum aceto et calefactum in
fico inpositum. minus hoc miretur qui cogitet lapi-
dem a cane morsum usque in proverbium discordiae
venisse. qui in urinam canis suam egesserit tor-
porem lumborum sentire dicunt. lacerta, quam sepa,
alii chalcidem vocant, in vino pota morsus suos sanat.

103 XXXIII. Yeneficiis ex mustela silvestri factis con-
trarium est ius gallinacei veteris large haustum,
peculiariter contra aconita, addi parum salis oporteat ;
gallinarum fimum, dumtaxat candidum, in hysopo
decoctum aut mulso, contra venena fungorum boletor-

1 nara hac ego : nam codd. : hac Mayhoff.

° A Plinian parenthesis.

6 The last sentence, bracketed by Mayhoff, has obviously
been misplaced, but its proper place is not clear. Some
other sentences seem to be careless.

248

BOOK XXIX. xxxii. ioo-xxxiii. 103

prevent their going mad. The brains of poultry are
an antidote, but to swallow them gives protection for
that year only. They say that it is also efficacious to
apply to the wound a cock's comb pounded up, or
goose grease with honey. The flesh of dogs that
have gone mad is also preserved in salt to be used
for the same purposes given in food. Puppies too of
the same sex as the bitten patient are immediately
drowned and their livers swallowed raw. An
application in vinegar of poultry dung, if it is red, is
also of advantage, or the ash of a shrew-mouse's tail
(but the mutilated animal must be set free alive), an
application in vinegar of a bit of earth from a swallow's
nest, of the chicks of a swallow reduced to ash, or the
skin or cast slough of snakes, pounded in wine with a
male crab ; for by it even when put away by itself in
chests and cupboards they kill moths.a So great is the
virulence of this plague that even the urine of a mad
dog does harm if trodden on, especially to those who
are suffering from sores. A remedy is an application
of horse dung sprinkled with vinegar and warmed in
a fig. Less surprised at all this will be one who
remembers that " a dog will bite a stone thrown at
him " has become a proverb to describe quarrelsome-
ness. It is said that he who voids his own urine on
that of a dog will suffer numbness in his loins. The
lizard called seps by some and chalcis by others, if
taken in wine is a cure for its own bites.6

XXXIII. For sorcerers' poisons obtained from the Antidotes for
wild weasel a remedy is a copious draught of chicken Voisons.
broth made from an old bird ; it is specific for aconite
poisoning, and there should be added a dash of salt.
Hens' dung, provided it is white, boiled down in
hyssop or honey wine, is used for poisonous fungi and

249

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

umque, item inflationes ac strangulationes, quod
miremur, cum, si aliud animal gustaverit id fimum,

104 torminibus et inrlationibus adficiatur. sanguis anser-
inus contra lepores marinos valet cum olei aequa por-
tione, item l contra mala medicamenta omnia — ad-
servatur cum Lemnia rubrica et spinae albae suco, ut2
pastillorum drachmis quinque in cyathis ternis aquae
bibatur — item mustelae catulus ut supra diximus
praeparatus. coagulum quoque agninum adversus
omnia mala medicamenta pollet, item sanguis anatum
Ponticarum. itaque et spissatus servatur vinoque
diluitur. quidam feminae anatis efficaciorem putant.

105 simili modo contra venena omnia ciconiarum ventri-
culus valet, coagulum pecoris, ius ex carne arietum,
privatim adversus cantharidas, item lac ovium calidum
praeterque iis qui buprestim aut aconitum biberint,
columbarum silvestrium fimum privatim contra
argenti vivi potum, contra toxica mustela vulgaris in-
veterata drachmis binis pota.

106 XXXIV. Alopecias replet fimi pecudum cinis cum
oleo cyprio et melle, item ungularum muli vel mulae
ex oleo myrteo, praeterea, ut Varro noster tradit,
murinum fimura, quod item 3 muscerdas appellat, aut
muscarum capita recentia prius folio nculneo aspera-
tas. alii sanguine muscarum utuntur, alii decem die-
bus cinerem earum inlinunt cum cinere chartae vel
nucum ita ut sit tertia pars e muscis, alii lacte
mulierum cum brassica cinerem muscarum subigunt,

1 itcm codd. : idem Mayhoff.

2 Post suco add. ut Mayhoff.

item R vulg. : rite Detlefsen : ille Mayhoff : lite XE :
linthe d.

a See § 60.

250

BOOK XXIX. xxxiii. 103-xxxiv. 106

mushrooms, as well as for flatulence and suffocations —
a matter for wonder, because if any animal save man
should taste this dung, it will suffer from colic and
flatulence. Goose blood, with the same quantity of
oil, is good for the poison of sea hares, also for all
sorcerers' poisons— it is kept with red Lemnian earth
and the sap of white thorn, and five drachmae of the
lozenges should be taken as a dose in three cyathi of
water — also a baby weasel prepared as I have
described.0 Lamb's rennet too is a powerful antidote
to all sorcerers' poisons, as is the blood of Pontic
ducks ; and so when thickened it is also stored away
and dissolved in wine. Some are of opinion that the
blood of a female duck is more efficacious. In like
manner general remedies for all poisons are the crop
of storks, sheep's rennet, the broth of ram's flesh
(which is specific for cantharides), likewise warmed
sheeps' milk, which is also good for those who have
swallowed buprestis or aconite, the dung of wild
doves (specific if quicksilver has been swallowed),
and for arrow poisons the common weasel, preserved
and taken in drink. two drachmae at a time.

XXXIV. Bald patches through mange are covered Mange.
again with hair by an application of ash of sheeps'
dung with cyprus oil and honey, by the hooves,
reduced to ash, of a mule of either sex, applied in
myrtle oil ; moreover, as our countryman Yarro
relates, by mouse dung, which he calls also muscerdae,
or by the fresh heads of flies, but the patches must first
be roughened with a fig leaf. Some use the blood
of flies, others for ten days applv their ash with that
of paper or nuts, but a third of the whole must be
that of flies : others make a paste of fly ash, woman's
miik. and cabbage, while some add honey <>nly. No

251

PLINY: NATURAL HISTOKY

quidam melle tantum. millum animal minus docile
existimatur minorisve intellcctus ; eo mirabilius est
Olvmpiae sacro certamine nubes earum immolato
tauro deo quem Myioden vocant extra territorium id

107 abire. alopecias cinis ex murium capitibus caudisque
et totius muris emendat, praecipue si veneficio acci-
derit haec iniuria, item irenacei cinis cum melle aut
corium combustum cum pice liquida. caput quidem
eius ustum per se etiam cicatricibus pilos reddit. alo-
pecias autem in ea curatione praeparari oportet nova-
cula. et sinapi quidam ex aceto uti maluerunt.
quae de irenaceo dicentur omnia tanto magis vale-

108 bunt in hystrice. lacertae quoque ut docuimus com-
bustae cum radice recentis harundinis, quae ut una
cremari possit, minutim fmdenda est, ita myrteo oleo
permixto cineres * capillorum defluvia continent.
efficacius virides lacertae omnia eadem praestant,
etiamnum utilius admixto sale et adipe ursino et cepa
tusa. quidam denas virides in decem sextariis olei
veteris discocunt, contenti semel in mense unguere.

109 pellium viperinarum cinis alopecias celerrime explet,
item gallinarum fimum recens inlitum. corvi ovum
in aereo vase permixtum inlitumque deraso capite
migritiam capilli adfert, sed donec inarescat oleum in
ore habendum est ne et dentes simul nigrescant,
idque in umbra faciendum neque ante quadriduum

1 cineres codd. : cinere Mayhojf.

■' T1m> Flv-catcher, who protected his worshippers from flies.
* See § 98.

252

BOOK XXIX. xxxiv. 106-109

creature is thought to be less teachable or less intelli-
gent than the fly ; it is all the more wonderful that at
the Olympic sacred games, after the bull has been
sacrificed to the god they call Myiodes," clouds of
flies depart from out Olympic territory. Hair lost
by mange is restored by the ash of mice, their heads
and tails, or their whole bodies, especially when this
affliction is the result of sorcery ; it is restored too by
the ash of a hedge-hog mixed with honey, or by its
burnt skin with liquid pitch. The head indeed of
this animal, reduced to ash, by itself restores the hair
even to scars. But for this treatment the patches
must first be prepared by shaving with a razor.
Some too have preferred to use mustard in vinegar.
All that will be said about the hedgehog will apply
even more to the porcupine. Hair is also prevented
from falling out by the ash of a lizard that, in the way
I have described,6 has been burnt with the root of a
fresh-cut reed, which must be chopped up fine so that
the two may be consumed together, an ointment
being made by the admixture of myrtle-oil. All the
same results are given more efficaciously by green
lizards, and with even greater benefit if there are
added salt, bear's grease, and crushed onion. Some
thoroughly boil ten green lizards at a time in ten
sextarii of old oil, being content with one application
a month. Yipers' skins reduced to ashes very quickly
restore hair lost through mange, as does also an
application of fresh hens' dung. A raven's egg,
beaten up in a copper vessel and applied to the head
after shaving it, imparts a black colour to the hair,
but until it dries oil must be kept in the mouth lest
the teeth too turn black at the same time ; the
application too must be made in the shade, and not

253

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

110 abluendum. alii sanguine et eerebro eius utuntur
cum vino nigro, alii excocunt ipsum et nocte concubia
in plumbeum vas condunt. aliqui alopecias can-
tharide trita inlinunt cum pice liquida, nitro prae-
parata cute — caustica vis earum, cavendumque ne
exulcerent alte — postea ad ulcera ita facta capita
murium et fel murium et fimum cum helleboro et
pipere inlini iubent.

1 1 1 XXXV. Lendes tolluntur adipe canino vel anguibus
in cibo sumptis anguillarum modo aut eorum ver-
natione quam exuunt pota, porrigines felle ovillo cum
creta Cimolia inlito capite donec inarescat.

112 XXXVL Capitis doloribus remedio sunt cocle-
arum quae nudae inveniuntur nondum peractae,
ablato capite, et his duritia lapidea exempta — est
autem ea calculi latitudine — quae l adalligantur et
minutae fronti inlinuntur tritae, item oesypum, ossa
e capite vulturis adalligata aut cerebrum cum oleo et

113 cedria, peruncto capite et intus naribus inlitis, cor-
nicis cerebrum coctum in cibo sumptum vel noctuae,
gallinaceus si inclusus abstineatur die ac nocte, pari
inedia eius qui 2 doleat, evulsis collo plumis circum-
ligatisque vel cristis, mustelae cinis inlitus, surculus
ex nido milvi pulvino subiectus, murina pellis cremata
ex aceto inlito cinere, limacis inter duas orbitas in-
ventae ossiculum per aurum argentum ebur traiectum

1 quae codd. : eaque Mayhoff.

2 qui fere omnes codd. : cuius E, Mayhoff.

a Perhaps a reference to slugs.

6 Or, " of the size of a bit of gravel." Perhaps, " as big
as a calculus."

254

BOOK XXIX. xxxiv. iio-xxxvi. 113

washed off before three days have passed. Some
use a raven's blood and brains added to dark wine ;
others thoroughly boil the raven itself and store it
away at bed time in a vessel of lead. Some apply to
patches of mange Spanish fly pounded with liquid
pitch, first preparing the skin with soda — the applica-
tion is caustic, and care must be taken not to cause
deep sores — and prescribe that afterwards to the sores
so formed be applied the heads, gall, and dung of
mice with hellebore and pepper.

XXXV. Xits are removed by dog fat, snakes taken Curesfor
in food like eels, or by the cast slough of snakes taken nUs'

in drink ; dandruff by sheeps' gall with Cimolian
chalk rubbed on the head until it dries off.

XXXVI. Headaches have a remedy in the heads Forhead-
of snails, cut off from those that are found without ac
shells. being not yet complete,a and the hard stony
substance taken from them— it is of the width of a
pebble b — which are used as an amulet, while the
small snails are crushed, and rubbed 011 the forehead ;
there is also wool grease ; the bones from the head

of a vulture attached as an amulet, or its brain with
oil and cedar resin, the head being rubbed all over
and the inner part of the nostrils smeared with the
ointment ; the brain of a crow or owl boiled and
taken in food ; a cock penned up without food for a
day and a night, the sufferer fasting with him at the
same time, feathers plucked from the neck, or the
comb, being tied round the head ; the application of
a weasel reduced to ash ; a twig from a kite's nest
placed under the pillow ; a mouse's skin burnt and
the ash applied in vinegar ; the little bone of a slug
found between two wheel ruts, passed through gold,
silver and ivory, and attached in dog skin as an

255

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

in pellicula canina adalligatum, quod remedium pluri-

1 14 bus semper prodest. fraeto eapiti aranei tela ex oleo
et aceto inposita non nisi vulnere sanato abscedit.
haec et vulneribus tonstrinarum sanguinem sistit, a
eerebro vero profluentem anseris sanguis aut anatis
infusus, adeps earundem alitum cum rosaceo. cocleae
matutino x pascentis harundine caput praecisum,
maxime luna plena lineo panno adalligant capitis
doloribus liceo, aut cera alba 2 fronti inlinunt et pilos
caninos panno adalligant.

115 XXXVII. Cerebrum cornicis in cibo sumptum
palpebras gignere dicitur, oesypum cum murra calido
penicillo inlitum. idem praestare muscarum fimique
murini cinerem aequis portionibus ut efficiatur dimi-
dium pondus denarii promittitur, additis duabus sextis
denarii e stibi, ut omnia oesypo inlinantur, item
murini catuli triti in vino vetere ad crassitudinem

116 acopi. pilos in his incommodos evulsos renasci non
patitur fel irenacei, ovorum stelionis liquor, salaman-
drae cinis, lacertae viridis fel in vino albo sole coactum
ad crassitudinem mellis iri aereo vase, hirundinis
pullorum cinis cum lacte tithymalli, spuma coclearum.

117 XXXVIII. Glaucomata dicunt Magi cerebro catuli
septem dierum emendari specillo demisso in dex-

1 cocleae matutino Harduinus : coctae (cocta) matutina
codd.

2 Post alba add. addita Mayhoff : nolit Brakman.
256

BOOK XXIX. xxxvi. 113 -xxxvni. 117

amulet, a remedy that always does good to most.
Applied in oil and vinegar to a fractured skull,
cobweb does not come away until the wound is
healed. Cobweb also stops bleeding from a razor
cut, but haemorrhage from the brain is stayed by
pouring into the wound the blood of goose or duck,
or the grease of these birds with rose oil. The head
of a snail cut offwith a reed as he feeds in the morning,
by preference when the moon is full, is attached in a
linen cloth by a thread to the head of a sufferer from
headaches, or else made into an ointment for the
forehead with white wax, and an amulet attached of
dog's hair in a cloth.

XXX VII. A crow's brain taken in food is said to Eydashes.
make eyelashes grow, and also wool grease and
myrrh applied with a warmed probe. We are
assured that the same result is obtained by taking the

ash of flies and of mouse dung in equal quantities, so
that the weight of the whole amounts to half a
denarius, then adding two-sixths of a denarius of
antimony and applying all with wool grease ; or one
may use baby mice beaten up in old wine to the con-
sistency of an anodyne salve. When inconvenient
hairs in the eyelashes have been plucked out they are
prevented from growing again by the gall of a hedge-
hog, the fluid part of a spotted lizard's eggs, the ash
of a salamander, the gall of a green lizard in white
wine condensed by sunshine to the consistency of
honey in a copper vessel, the ash of a swallow's young
added to the milky j uice of tithymallus and the slime
of snails.

XXXVIII. Opaqueness of the eye-lens is cured, say curesjor
the Magi, by the brain of a seven-day-old puppy, the ^60
probe being inserted into the right side of the eye to

257

VOL. VIII. K

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

teram partem, si dexter oculus curetur, in sinistram,
si sinister, aut felle recenti axionis. noctuarum est id
genus, quibus pluma aurium modo micat. suffu-
sionem oculorum canino felle malebat quam hyaenae
curari Apollonius Pitanaeus cum melle,item albugines

118 oculorum. murium capitum caudaeque cinere ex
melle inunctis claritatem visus restitui dicunt, multo-
que magis gliris aut muris silvestris cinere aut
aquilae cerebro vel felle cum Attico melle. cinis
et adips * soricis cum stibi tritus lacrimosis oculis
plurimum confert — stibi quid sit dicemus in metallis
— mustelae cinis suffusionibus, item lacertae, hirun-
dinis cerebrum. cocleae tritae fronti inlitae epi-
phoras sedant sive per se sive cum polline sive cum

119 ture. sic et solatis [id est sole correptis] 2 prosunt.
vivas quoque cremare et cinere earum cum melle
Cretico inunguere caligines utilissimum est. iumen-
torum oculis membrana aspidis quam exuit vere, cum
adipe eiusdem claritatem inunctis facit. viperam
vivam in fictili novo comburere addito feniculi suco ad
cyathum unum et turis manna 3 una, atque ita suffu-
siones oculorum et caligines inunguere utilissimum

120 est. medicamentum id echeon vocatur. fit et
collyrium vipera in olla putrefacta vermiculisque
enatis cum croco tritis. et uritur 4 in olla cum sale

1 et adips d, vulg. Detlefsen : e capite Mayhoff : et alipe,
alipe, et adipe ceteri codd.

2 id est sole correptis] uncos ego addidi.

3 manna Hermolaus Barbarus, Mayhoff : mina E, Detlefsen :
mammam Vdf : mamma vulg.

4 et uritur Mayhoff : excuritur codd.

° Mayhoff would omit " or . . . honey " as a gloss.
6 A strange phrase, and MayhofFs " ash from the head "
may be right, but some sort of grease would be needed.

»5«

BOOK XXIX. xxxviii. 1 17-120

treat the right eye and into the left side to treat the
left eye ; or by the fresh gall of the aocio, a kind of
owl whose feathers twitch like ears. Apollonius of
Pitane preferred to treat cataract with honey and
dog's gall rather than using hyaena's, as he did also
to treat white eye ulcers. The heads and tails of mice,
reduced to ash and made into an ointment with
honey, restore, they say, clearness of vision ; much
better the ash of a dormouse or wild mouse, or the
brain of an eagle or the gall with Attic honey.a The
ash and fat b of the shrew-mouse, beaten up with
antimony, is very good for watery eyes — what anti-
mony is I shall say when I speak c of metals — the ash
of the weasel for cataract, likewise of the lizard, or
the brain of the swallow.d Pounded snails applied to
the forehead relieve eye fluxes, either by themselves
or with fine flour or with frankincense ; so applied
they are also good for sunstroke/ To burn them
alive also, and to use as ointment the ash with Cretan
honey is very good for dimness of vision. For the
eyes of draught animals the slough cast in spring by
the asp makes with asp fat an ointment that improves
their vision. To burn a viper alive in new earthen-
ware, with addition of fennel juice up to one cyathus,
and of one grain of frankincense, makes an ointment
very good for cataract and dimness of vision ; this
prescription is called echeon. An eye salve is also
made by letting a viper rot in a jar, and pounding with
saffron the grubs that breed in it. A viper is also

e XXXIII. § 101.

d Or, " likewise the brain of lizard or swallow."
e On the whole it seems better to omit id est sole correptis as
a gloss. Although a colloquial word of the countryside,
solatus would scarcely require explanation to a Roman ear.

259

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

quem lingendo elaritatem oculorum consecuntur et
stomachi totiusque corporis tempestivitates. hic sal
et pecori datur salubritatis causa et in antidotum
contra serpentes additur. quidam | et adtollitur * f

121 viperis utuntur in cibis. primum omnium occisae
statim salem in os addi iubent donec liquescat, mox
quattuor digitorum mensura utrimque praecisa ex-
emptisque interaneis discoquunt in aqua, oleo,2 sale,
aneto, et aut statim vescuntur aut pane colligunt, ut
saepius utantur. ius praeter supra dicta pediculos e
toto corpore expellit pruritusque etiam summae cutis.
effectum ostendit et per se capitis viperini cinis ;
utilissime eo 3 oculos inunguit, itemque adeps viper-

122 inus. de felle non audaciter suaserim quae praeci-
piunt, quoniam, ut suo loco docuimus, non aliud est
serpentium venenum. anguium adeps aerugini
mixtus ruptas oculorum partes sanat, et membrana
sive senectus vernatione eorum exuta si adfricetur,
claritatem facit. boae quoque fel praedicatur ad
albugines, suffusiones, caligines, adeps similiter ad

123 claritatem. aquilae, quam diximus pullos ad con-
tuendum solem experiri, felle mixto cum melle Attico
inunguntur nubeculae et caligationes suffusionesque

1 et adtollitur codd. : ex Athoitis Detlefsen (VII § 27 coll.) :
ad oculos Mayhoff, " locus nondum sanatus." Fortasse ad
tollendos pruritus Warmington.

2 discoquunt in aqua, oleo] Mayhoff coni. discoquunt cum
vino atque oleo.

3 eo add. Mayhoff.

a The reading of the MSS. is obviously wrong, and although
the ad of adtollitur seems to be a preposition, the name of the
complaint to follow it is a mysterv ; MayhofFs oculos would
scarcely have been misunderstood and suffered corruption.
There is a late word tolles, meaning goitre. Palaeographically
an easy correction, it scarcely suits the sense of the passage.

260

BOOK XXIX. xxxviii. 120-123

burned in a jar with salt, to lick which gives clearm -ss
of vision, and is a tonic to the stomach and to the
whole body. This salt is also given to sheep to keep
them in health, and is an ingredient of an antidote to
snake bite. Some use vipers ° . . . as food. They pre-
scribe that, first of all, as soon as the viper has been
killed, salt should be placed in its mouth until it melts ;
then at both ends a length of four fingers is cut off
and the intestines taken out ; the rest they thoroughly
boil in water,b oil, salt and dill, and either eat at once,
or mix in bread so that it can be used several times.
In addition to what has been said above, the broth
removes lice from any part of the body, as well as
itching from the surface of the skin. Even by itself,
the ash of a viper's head shows results ; as ointment
for the eyes it is very efFective, and the same is true
of viper's fat. I would not confidently recommend
what is prescribed about a viper's gall, because, as I
have pointed out in the appropriate place,c a serpent's
poison is nothing but gall. The fat of snakes mixed
with bronze rust heals ruptured parts of the eyes, and
rubbing with their skin, or slough, cast in spring,
gives clear vision. The gall of the boa also is recom-
mended for white ulcers, cataract, and dimness, and
its fat similarly for clear vision.

The gall of the eagle, which, as I have said,J tests
its chicks for gazing at the sun, makes, when mixed
with Attic honey, an ointment for film on the eyes,
dimness of vision, and cataract. There is the same

6 Mayhoff (Appendix to vol. IV, p. 495) points out that
water and oil will not mix, and proposes an emendation that
would give : " boil with wine and oil etc."

c II. § 163.

d X. §10.

261

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

oculorum. eadem vis est et in vulturino felle eum
porri suco et melle exiguo, item in gallinacei felle ad
argema et albugines ex aqua diluto, item in suffu-
siones oculorum, maxime candidi gallinacei. fimum
quoque gallinaceorum, dumtaxat rubrum, lusciosis

124 inlini monstrant. laudant et gallinae fel, et prae-
cipue adipem, contra pusulas in pupillis ; nec scilicet
eius rei gratia saginant. adiuvat mirifice et ruptas
oculorum tuniculas admixtis schisto et haematite
lapidibus. fimum quoque earum, dumtaxat eandi-
dum, in oleo vetere corneisque pyxidibus adservant
ad pupillarum albugines, qua in mentione significan-
dum est pavones fimum suum resorbere tradi invi-

125 dentes hominum utilitatibus. accipiter decoctus in
rosaceo efficacissimus ad inunctiones omnium vitiorum
putatur, item fimi eius cinis cum Attico melle.
laudatur et milvi iocur, fimum quoque columbarum,
ex aceto ad aegilopia, similiter ad albugines et cica-
trices, fel anserinum, sanguis anatum contusis oculis
ita ut postea oesypo et melle inunguantur, fel per-
dicum cum mellis aequo pondere, per se vero ad
claritatem. ex Hippocratis putant auctoritate adiei

126 quod in argentea pyxide id servari iubent. ova per-
dicum in vase aereo decocta cum melle ulceribus
oculorum et glaucomatis medentur. columbarum,
palumbium, turturum, perdicum sanguis oculis
cruore suffusis eximie prodest. in columbis mas-
culae efficaciorem putant, vena autem sub ala

° I place the phrase here, instead of at the end of the
sentence, to show the similia similibus.

b The phrases in this part of the chapter are difficult to
join correctly.

262

BOOK XXIX. xxxvm. 123-126

property also in vulture's gall with leek juice and a
little honey, likewise in the gall of a cock, especially of
a white cock,a diluted with water and used for white
specks, white ulcers, and cataract. The dung of
poultry also, provided that it is red, is prescribed as
an ointment for night blindness. The gall of a hen
also, and in particular the fat, is recommended for
pustules on the pupils, but of course hens are not
fattened specially for this purpose. It is a wonderful
help, combined with the stones schistos and haema-
tites, for the coats of the eye when torn. The dung
also of hens, provided it is white, is kept in old oil and
horn boxes for white ulcers on the pupil ; while on
the subject I must mention the tradition that
peacocks swallow back their own dung, begrudging
men its benefits. A hawk boiled down in rose oil is
thought to make a very efficacious liniment for all eye
complaints, as is its dung reduced to ash and added
to Attic honey. A kite's liver too is recommended,
and also pigeons' dung, applied in vinegar for fistulas,
similarly for white ulcers and for scars, goose's gall
and duck's blood for bruised eyes, provided that
afterwards they are treated with wool grease and
honey '. partridge gall can be used with an equal
weight of honey, but by itself for clear vision.6 It
is on the supposed authority of Hippocrates that the
further instruction is given to keep this gall in a silver
box. Partridge eggs boiled down with honey in a
bronze vessel cure ulcers 011 the eyes and opaqueness
of the lens. The blood of pigeons, doves, turtle
doves, or partridges, makes an excellent application
for blood-shot eyes. Among pigeons, male birds are
supposed to have the more efficacious blood, and a
vein under a wing is cut for this purpose, because its

263

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

ad hunc usum inciditur, quoniam suo calore utilior est.
superinponi oportet splenium e melle decoctum

127 lanamque sucidam ex oleo aut * vino. earundem
avium sanguis nyctalopas sanat et iocur ovium, ut in
capris diximus, efficacius fulvae. decocto quoque
eius oculos abluere suadent et medulla dolores
tumoresque inlinere. bubonis oculorum cinis collyrio
mixtus claritatem oculis facere promittitur. turturis
fimum albugines extenuat, item coclearum cinis,
fimum cenchridis. accipitrum generis hanc Graeci

128 faciunt. argema ex melle omnibus quae supra
scripta sunt sanatur. mel utilissimum oculis in quo
apes sint inmortuae. ciconiae pullum qui ederit
negatur annis 2 continuis lippiturus, item qui draconis
caput habeat. huius adipe et melle cum oleo vetere
incipientes caligines discuti tradunt. hirundinum
pullos plena luna excaecant, restitutaque eorum acie
capita comburuntur, cinere cum melle utuntur ad

129 claritatem et dolores ac lippitudines et ictus. lacer-
tas quoque pluribus modis ad oculorum remedia
adsumunt. alii viridem includunt novo fictili, et
lapillos qui vocantur cinaedia, quae et inguinum
tumoribus adalligari solent, novem signis signant et
singulos detrahunt per dies. nono emittunt lacer-

130 tam, lapillos servant ad oculorum dolores. alii terram
substernunt lacertae viridi excaecatae et una in vitreo
vase anulos includunt e ferro solido vel auro. cum

1 aut E, Pl. Iun., Mayhojf : ac Detlefsen.

2 Inter annis et continuis add. multis Mayhojf : V( = quin-
que) Brakman.

• See XXVIII. § 170.

* Here Mayhoff would add " many " and Brakman M five.
c I.e. dazzled.

264

BOOK XXIX. xxxviii. 126-130

natural heat makes it more useful. Over the applica-
tion should be placed a plaster boiled in honey and
greasy wool boiled in oil or wine. Xight blindness is
cured by the blood of the same birds and by the liver
of sheep, as I said ° when speaking of goats, with
greater benefit if the sheep are tawny. With a
decoction also of the liver it is recommended to bathe
the eyes and to apply the marrow to those that are
painful or swollen. We are assured that the eyes of
the horned owl, reduced to ash and mixed with a
salve, improves the vision. White ulcers are made
better by the dung of a turtle dove, by snails reduced
to ash, and by the dung of the cenchris, a bird con-
sidered by the Greeks to be a species of hawk.
White specks are cured by all the above remedies
applied with honey. The honey most beneficial for
the eyes is that in which bees have died. He who
has eaten the chick of a stork, it is said, will not suffer
from ophthalmia for b years on end, likewise he who
carries about the head of a python. Its fat with
honey and old oil is said to disperse incipient dimness.
The chicks of swallows are blinded c by the full moon,
and when their sight is restored their heads are burnt
and the ash used with honey to improve the vision
and for pains, ophthalmia, and blows. Lizards too
are employed in several ways for eye remedies.
Some shut up a green lizard in new earthenware, and
with them the pebbles called cinaedia, which are used
as amulets for swellings on the groin, mark them with
nine marks and take away one daily ; on the ninth
day they set the lizard free, but keep the pebbles for
pains in the eyes. Others put earth under a green
lizard after blinding it, and shut it in a glass vessel
with rings of solid iron or gold. When they can see

265

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

recepisse visum lacertam apparuit per vitrum,
emissa ea anulis contra lippitudinem utuntur, alii
capitis cinere pro stibi ad scabritias. quidam viridem
collo longo in sabulosis nascentem comburunt et
incipientem epiphoram inungunt, item glaucomata.

131 mustelae etiam oculis punctu erutis aiunt visum
reverti, eademque quae in lacertis et anulis faciunt,
serpentis oculum dextrum adalligatum contra epi-
phoras prodesse, si serpens viva dimittatur. lacri-
mantibus sine fine oculis cinis stelionum capitis cum
stibi eximie medetur. aranei muscarii tela et prae-
cipue spelunca ipsa inposita per frontem ad duo tem-
pora in splenio aliquo, ita ut a puero inpube et
capiatur et inponatur nec is triduo se ostendat ei cui
medebitur, neve alter nudis pedibus terram attingat

132 his diebus, mirabiliter epiphoris mederi dicitur,
albugines quoque tollere inunctione araneus candidus
longissimis ac tenuissimis pedibus contritus in oleo
vetere. is etiam cuius crassissimum textum est in
contignationibus fere adalligatus panno epiphoras
sanare traditur. scarabaei viridis natura contuen-
tium visum exacuit, itaque gemmarum scalptores
contuitu eorum adquiescunt.

133 XXXIX. Aures purgat fel pecudis cum melle,
canini lactis instillatio sedat dolorem, gravitatem
adeps cum absinthio et oleo vetere, item adeps an-
serinus. quidam adiciunt sucum cepae, alii pari
266

BOOK XXIX. xxxviii. 130-xxxix. 133

through the glass that the lizard has recovered its
sight, they let it out, and use the rings for ophthahnia :
others use the ash of the head instead of antimony
for scabrous eyes. Some burn the green lizard with
a long neck that is found in sandy places, and use it as
ointment for incipient fluxes, as well as for opaqueness
of the lens. They also say that when a weaseTs eyes
have been gouged out with a pointed tool, the sight
is restored, and they use the animal as they used the
lizards and rings, saying also that a serpent's right eye
worn as an amulet, is good for eye fluxes, if the
serpent is set free alive. The ash of a spotted
lizard's head makes with antimony an excellent
remedy for continually streaming eyes. The web of
a fly-spider, particularly its very lair, is said to be a
marvellous cure for fluxes if laid in a plaster across
the forehead from temple to temple ; but it must be
collected and applied by a boy before puberty, who
waits three days before showing himself to the patient
needing cure, during which days the latter must not
touch the earth with bare feet. White ulcers also
are said to be removed by the white spider with very
long and very thin legs, which is pounded in old oil
and used as ointment. The spider too, whose very
coarse web is generally found in rafters, is said to
cure fluxes if worn in cloth as an amulet. The green
beetle has the property of sharpening the sight of
those who gaze at it, and so the carvers of jewels
gaze on one to rest their eyes.

XXXIX. The ears are cleaned by sheep's gall with diresfor
honey ; pain is relieved by drops of bitch's milk;
hardness of hearing by her fat with wormwood and
old oil, also by goose grease. Some add the juice of
onion and a Iike measure of garlic. They also use

267

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

modo. utuntur et per se ovis formicarum, namque et
huic animali est medicina, constatque ursos aegros hoc

134 cibo sanari. anserum omniumque avium adeps prae-
paratur,1 exemptisque omnibus venis patina nova fic-
tili operta in sole subdita aqua ferventi liquatur,
saccatusque lineis saccis et in fictili novo repositus loco
frigido ; minus putrescit addito melle. murium cinis
cum melle instillatus aut cum rosaceo decoctus aurium
dolores sedat. si aliquod animal intraverit, praeci-
puum remedium est murium fel aceto dilutum, si
aqua intraverit, adeps anserinus cum cepae suco.

135 gliris detracta pelle intestinisque exemptis disco-
quitur melle in vase novo. medici malunt e nardo
decoqui usque ad tertias partes atque ita adservari,
dein, cum opus sit, strigili tepefacta infundere.
constat deplorata aurium vitia eo remedio sanari aut
si terreni vermes cum adipe anseris decocti infun-
dantur, item ex arboribus rubri cum oleo triti exul-

136 ceratis et ruptis auribus praeclare medentur. lacerti
inveterati,2 in os pendentium addito sale, contusas et
ab ictu miseras aures sanant, efficacissime autem
ferrugineas maculas habentes, lineis etiam per
caudam distincti.3 milipeda ab aliis centipeda aut
multipeda dicta animal est e vermibus terrae pilosum,

1 Post praeparatur lacunam indicat Mayhoff.

2 lacerti inveterati codd. : lacertae inveteratae Mayhoff.

3 distincti Caesarius : distinctae (-te) codd.

a Some words appear to have dropped out. Perhaps
" washed."

4 The MSS. have distinctae (or distincte). Hence Mayhoff
would eracnd lacerti (above) to lacertae. It is perhaps more
likely that a scribe unconsciously slipped into the more usual
feminine. One should note in this chapter the many references

268

BOOK XXIX. xxxi.x. 153-136

without addition ants' eggs, for this creature also has
its use in medicine, and it is well known that bears
when sick cure themselves by eating these eggs.
The fat of geese and of all birds is prepared ° . . .
all the veins are taken out, and in a new earthenware
pan with a lid it is melted in the sun with boiling hot
water underneath, strained through linen strainers
and set aside in new earthenware in a cool place ; if
honey is added the fat is less likely to go rancid.
The ash of mice, either added to honey or boiled with
rose oil, if dropped into the ears relieves pain. If
some creature has crept into the ear, the sovereign
remedy is mouse gall diluted with vinegar ; if it is
water that has got in, goose grease with the juice of
an onion. A dormouse, skinned and the intestines
taken out, is thoroughly boiled in honey in a new
vessel. Physicians prefer it to be boiled down to
one-third in nard, and so stored away, and then
when needed poured into the ear in a warmed strigil.
It is well ascertained that desperate ear complaints
are cured by this remedy, or if a decoction of earth-
worms and goose grease is injected. The red worms
also that are taken offtrees, if pounded with oil, make
excellent treatment for ulcerated or ruptured ears.
Preserved lizards, with salt put into their mouths as
they hang suspended, heal bruised ears that are
suffering from a blow, most efficaciously those covered
with spots of the colour of iron rust and also marked b
by streaks along the tail. The millipede, by some
called centipede or multipede, is one of the earth
worms ; it is hairy, with many feet, moving sinuously

to broken ears, owing perhaps to the head wounds common in
war and gladiatorial fights, and to the heavy caestu-s used by
boxers.

269

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

multis pcdibus arcuatim repens tactuque contrahens
se, oniscon Graeci vocant, alii iulon.1 efficacem
narrant ad aurium dolores in cortice Punici mali
decoctum vel 2 porri suco. addunt et rosaceum et in
alteram aurem infundunt, illam autem quae non
arcuatur sepa Graeci vocant, alii scolopendram,

137 minorem perniciosamque. cocleae quae sunt in usu
cibi cum murra aut turis polline adpositae, item
minutae latae fracturis aurium inlinuntur cum melle.
senectus serpentium fervente testa usta instillatur
rosaceo admixto, contra omnia quidem vitia efficax,
sed contra graveolentiam praecipue, ac si purulenta
sint, ex aceto, melius cum felle caprino vel bubulo aut
testudinis marinae — vetustior anno eadem membrana
non prodest, nec imbre perfusa, ut aliqui putant —

138 aranei sanies cum rosaceo aut per se in lana vel cum
croco, gryllus cum sua terra effossus et inlitus.
magnam auctoritatem huic animali perhibet Nigidius,
maiorem Magi, quoniam retro ambulet terramque
terebret, stridat noctibus. venantur eum formica
circumligata capillo in cavernam eius coniecta, efflato
prius pulvere ne sese condat, ita formicae conplexu

139 extrahitur. ventris gallinaceorum membrana quae
abici solet inveterata et in vino trita auribus puru-
lentis calida infunditur, item 3 gallinarum adeps et
quaedam pinguitudo blattae, si caput avellatur. hanc
tritam una cum rosaceo auribus mire prodesse dicunt,

1 iulon Detlefsen ex Indice : tulion, tullon, tollen, tollon
codd.

2 vel Urlichs, Detlefsen : et Mayhoff : mel VdT.

3 item ego addidi : Mayhoff est pro et.

° The ailment is supposed to be driven out by the remedy
inserted into the other ear.

270

BOOK XXIX. \xxix. 136-139

its back as it crawls, drawing itself together when
touched, and called by the Greeks oniscos or iulos. It
is said to be a good cure for ear pains if boiled down in
pomegranate rind or leek juice. They add also rose
oil, and pour it into the ear that is not painful.a The
kind however that does not move sinuously its back
the Greeks call seps or scolopendra ; it is smaller and
very venomous. The snails that are edible are applied
with myrrh or powdered frankincense, and the small,
broad snails are made into an ointment with honey
for fractured ears. The slough of serpents, burnt in
a heated pot, is mixed with rose oil and dropped into
the ears, efficacious indeed for all affections, but
especially for offensive smell ; if pus is present,
vinegar is used, and it is better if there be added gall
of goat, ox, or turtle — the slough, as some think,
loses power if older than a year, or if soaked with rain
— the gore of a spider on wool with rose oil, by itself,
or with saifron ; a cricket dug out with its earth and
applied.6 Great efficacy is attributed to this creature
by Nigidius, greater still by the Magi, just because
it walks backwards, bores into the earth, and chirrups
at night. They hunt it with an ant tied to a hair and
put into the cricket's hole, first blowing the dust
away lest it bury itself, and so when the ant has em-
braced it the cricket is pulled out. The lining of
the crop of poultry, usually thrown away, if dried and
pounded in wine, is poured warm into suppurating
ears, likewise hens' fat and a kind of greasy sub-
stance coming from the black beetle if its head is
pulled off. This, pounded with rose oil, is said to be

6 A formless sentence. Some verbal expression, such as
" benefits pus in the ears," must be understood with the last
clause.

271

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

sed lanam qua incluserint post paulum extrahendam,
celerrime enim id pingue transire in animal fierique
vermiculum. alii binas ternasve in oleo decoctas
efficacissime auribus mederi scribunt et tritas in

140 linteolo inponi contusis. hoc quoque animal inter
pudenda est, sed propter admirationem naturae
priscorumque curae totum in hoc loco explicandum.
plura earum genera fecerunt : molles, quas in oleo
decoctas verrucis efficaciter inlini experti sunt.

141 alterum genus myloecon appellavere circa molas fere
nascens. his capite detracto adtritas lepras sanasse
Musaeum * pycten in exemplis reliquerunt. tertium
genus et odoris taedio invisum, exacuta clune, cum
pisselaeo sanare ulcera alias insanabilia, strumas,
panos diebus xxi inpositas, percussa, contusa et
cacoethe, scabiem furunculosque detractis pedibus

142 et pinnis. nos haec etiam audita fastidimus. at,
Hercules, Diodorus et in morbo regio et orthopnoicis
se dedisse tradit cum resina et melle. tantum
potestatis habit ars ea pro medicamento dandi quid-
quid velit. humanissimi eorum cinerem crematarum
servandum ad hos usus in cornea pyxide censuere aut
tritas clysteribus infundendas orthopnoicis aut

1 Musaeum Ianus: raascum am/ rauseam corfd.
272

BOOK XXIX. xxxix. 139-142

wonderfully good for the ears, but the wool on which
it is inserted must be taken out after a short time,
for this grease very quickly turns into something
alive, forming a grub. Some write that a dose of
two or three of these beetles, boiled down in oil,
make very good treatment for the ears, and that
when these are bruised crushed beetles are placed
in them in a piece of linen. This insect is one of the
things that arouse disgust, but because Nature and
the research of the ancients are so wonderful I must
go fully into the matter here. They have made
several classes of them : first the soft kind which,
boiled down in oil, they found to make a good oint-
ment for warts. The second kind they called
myloecos, because they are found commonly about
mills. The instances they quoted include Musaeus
the boxer, who cured leprous sores by this kind
rubbed on without their heads. A third kind,
one with a loathsome smell and a sharp-pronged
tail-end, they say will cure, if applied with pis-
selaeum for twenty-one days, ulcers otherwise
incurable, scrofulous sores and superficial abscesses;
and without legs and wings bruises, contusions,
even malignant sores, itch scab, and boils. Even
to hear these remedies mentioned makes me feel
sick; but, heaven help us ! Diodorus says that he had
given these beetles with resin and honey even in cases
of jaundice and orthopnoea. So much power has the
art of medicine to prescribe any medicament it
may wish. The kindliest among physicians have
thought that the ash of burnt black beetles should be
kept for the purposes mentioned in a horn box, or
that crushed they should be given in enemas to
sufferers from orthopnoea or catarrh. It is a known

273

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

rheumaticis. infixa utique corpori inlitas extrahere
143 constat. mel utilissimum auribus quoque est in quo
apes inmortuae sint. parotidas comprimit colum-
binum stercus vel per se vel cum farina hordeacea aut
avenacea, noctuae cerebrum vel iocur cum oleo in-
fusum auriculae a parotide,1 multipeda cum resinae
parte tertia inlita, grylli sive inliti sive adalligati. ad
reliqua morborum genera medicinam ex isdem
animalibus aut eiusdem generis sequenti dicemus
volumine.

1 a parotide in uncis Mayhoff.

274

BOOK XXIX. xxxix. 142-143

fact at any rate that an application brings away
things embedded in the flesh. The most suitable
honey for the ears also is that in which bees have
died. Parotid swellings are reduced by pigeon's
dung either by itself or with barley meal or oatmeal,
by the brain or liver of an owl, poured with oil into the
ear on the side of the swelling, by a multipede with a
third part of resin used as ointment, and by crickets,
used as ointment or as amulets. Medicine for the
remaining kinds of disease from the same animals or
from animals of the same kind, I shall speak of in
the next Book.

275

BOOK XXX

LIBER XXX

1 I. Magicas vanitates saepius quidem antecedente
operis parte, ubicumque causae locusque poscebant,
coarguimus detegemusque etiamnum. in paucis
tamen digna res est de qua plura dicantur, vel eo ipso
quod fraudulentissima artium plurimum in toto
terrarum orbe plurimisque saeculis valuit. auctori-
tatem ei maximam fuisse nemo miretur, quando-
quidem sola artium tres alias imperiosissimas humanae

2 mentis complexa in unam se redegit. natam primum
e medicina nemo dubitabit ac specie salutari in-
repsisse velut altiorem sanctioremque medicinam, ita
blandissimis desideratissimisque promissis addidisse
vires religionis, ad quas maxime etiamnunc caligat
humanum genus, atque, ut hoc quoque successerit,1
miscuisse artes mathematicas, nullo non avido futura
de sese sciendi atque ea e caelo verissime peti cre-
dente. ita possessis hominum sensibus triplici vin-
culo in tantum fastigii adolevit ut hodieque etiam in
magna parte gentium praevaleat et in oriente regum
regibus imperet.

3 II. Sine dubio illic orta in Perside a Zoroastre, ut
inter auctores convenit. sed unus hic fuerit an

1 successerit C. F. W. Muller: suggesserit aut suggerit
codd.

° Or, " Few theraes deserve more to receive fuller treat-
ment."

278

BOOK XXX

I. In the previous part of my work I have often Origin of
indeed refuted the fraudulent lies of the Magi, when- ^™910-
ever the subject and the occasion required it, and I

shall continue to expose them. In a few respects,
however, the theme deserves ° to be enlarged upon,
were it only because the most fraudulent of arts has
held complete sway throughout the world for many
ages. Xobodv should be surprised at the greatness
ofits influence, since alone of the arts it has embraced
three others that hold supreme dominion over the
human mind, and made them subject to itself alone.
Xobody will doubt that it first arose from medicine,
and that professing to promote health it insidiously
advanced under the disguise of a higher and holier
system ; that to the most seductive and welcome
promises it added the powers of religion, about which
even today the human race is quite in the dark ;
that again meeting with success it made a further
addition of astrology, because there is nobody who
is not eager to learn his destiny, or who does not
believe that the truest account of it is that gained by
watching the skies. Accordingly, holding men's
emotions in a three-fold bond, magic rose to such a
height that even today it has sway over a great part
of mankind, and in the East commands the Kings of
Kings.

II. Without doubt magic arose in Persia with
Zoroaster. On this our authorities are agreed, but

279

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

postea et alius non satis eonstat. Eudoxus, qui inter
sapientiae sectas elarissimam utilissimamque eam
intellegi voluit, Zoroastrem hunc sex milibus annorum
ante Platonis mortem fuisse prodidit, sic et Aristoteles.

4 Hermippus qui de tota ea arte diligentissime scripsit
et viciens centum milia versuum a Zoroastre condita
indicibus quoque voluminum eius positis explanavit,
praeceptorem a quo institutum diceret tradidit
Agonacen, ipsum vero quinque milibus annorum ante
Troianum bellum fuisse. mirum hoc in primis,
durasse memoriam artemque tam longo aevo com-
mentariis intercidentibus,1 praeterea nec claris nec

5 continuis successionibus custoditam. quotus enim
quisque 2 auditu saltem cognitos habet, qui soli nomi-
nantur, Apusorum et Zaratum Medos, Babyloniosque
Marmarum et Arabantiphocum, Assyrium Tarmoen-
dam, quorum nulla exstant monumenta ? maxime
tamen mirum est in bello Troiano tantum de arte ea
silentium fuisse Homero tantumque operis ex eadem
in Ulixis erroribus, adeo ut totum 3 opus non aliunde

6 constet, siquidem Protea et Sirenum cantus apud eum
non aliter intellegi volunt, Circe 4 utique et inferum
evocatione hoc solum agi. nec postea quisquam dixit
quonam modo venisset Telmesum religiosissimam 5

1 intercidentibus VGd Sillig. : non intercedentibus R ?
Detlefsen : non ante coramentariis ponit Mayhoff.

2 Ante auditu in codd. communi aut commi, om. Er:
hominum Mayhoff.

3 Ante totum in codd. multis de : om. Detlefsen : vel May-
hoff.

4 Ante Circe coni. in Mayhofj.

5 Post religiosissimam coni. in Mayhoff.

a An index might be a mere title or a brief list of contents
(or both).

280

BOOK XXX. ii. 3-6

whether he vvas the only one of that name, or
whether there was also another afterwards, is not clear.
Eudoxus, who wished magic to be acknowledged as
the noblest and most useful of the schools of philo-
sophy, declared that this Zoroaster lived six thousand
years before Plato's death, and Aristotle agrees
with him. Hermippus, a most studious writer about
every aspect of magic, and an exponent of two million
verses composed by Zoroaster, added summaries a
too to his rolls, and gave Agonaces as the teacher by
whom he b said that he had been instructed, assigning
to the man himself a date five thousand years before
the Trojan War. What especially is surprising is the
survival, through so long a period, of the craft and its
tradition ; treatises are wanting, and besides there is
no line of distinguished or continuous successors to
keep alive their memory. For how few know any-
thing, even by hearsay, of those who alone have left
their names but without other memorial — Apusorus
and Zaratus of Media, Marmarus and Arabanti-
phocus of Babylon, or Tarmoendas of Assyria ? The
most surprising thing, however, is the complete
silence of Homer about magic in his poem on the
Trojan War, and yet so much of his work in the
wanderings of Ulysses is so occupied with it that it
alone forms the backbone of the whole work, if
indeed they put a magical interpretation upon the
Proteus episode in Homer and the songs of the
Sirens, and especially upon the episode of Circe and
of the calling up of the dead from Hades, of whicli
magic is the sole theme. And in later times
nobody has explained how ever it reached Telmesus,

6 The omission of the pronouns makes the subject of diceret
uncertain — Zoroaster or Hermippus.

281

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

urbem, quando transisset ad Thessalas matres,
quarum cognomen diu optinuit in nostro orbe, aliena
genti Troianis utique temporibus Chironis medicinis

7 contentae et solo Marte fulminante.1 miror equidem
Achillis populis famam eius in tantum adhaesisse, ut
Menander quoque litterarum subtilitati sine aemulo
genitus Thessalam cognominaret fabulam 2 com-
plexam ambages feminarum detrahentium lunam.
Orphea putarem e propinquo eam 3 primum pertulisse
ad vicina eiusque 4 superstitionem a medicina 5 pro-
vectam,6 si non expers sedes eius tota Thrace magices

8 fuisset. primus, quod exstet, ut equidem invenio,
commentatus est de ea Osthanes Xerxen regem
Persarum bello quod is Graeciae intulit comitatus,
ac velut semina artis portentosae sparsit obiter in-
fecto quacumque commeaverant mundo. diligen-
tiores paulo ante hunc ponunt Zoroastrem alium
Proconnensium. quod certum est, hic maxime
Osthanes ad rabiem, non aviditatem modo scientiae
eius Graecorum populos egit, quamquam anim-
adverto summam litterarum claritatem gloriamque
ex ea scientia antiquitus et paene semper petitam.

1 fulminante multi codd., Detlefsen : fulminanti Mayhoff:
fulminati V^GRM.

2 fabulam Detlefsen : famulam Mayhoff. Neuter editor
alias indicat lectiones.

3 propinquo eam Gronovius, Ianus : propinquo artem
Mayhoff : propinquo R(?) E vulg. Detlefsen : propinquorum
VGd: propinquum coni. Warmington.

4 eiusque P. Green : uaque codd.

5 a medicina Gronovius, Sillig : ac medicinae (et super-
stitionis) Mayhoff : ac medicinae (superstitiones E, super-
stitionem R) ER.

6 pro vectam coni. Mayhoff: provectum aut profectum codd.

282

BOOK XXX. ii. 6-8

a city given up to superstition, or when it passed over
to the Thessalian matrons, whose surname a was long
proverbial in our part of the world, although magic
was a craft repugnant to the Thessalian people, who
were content, at any rate in the Trojan period, with
the medicines of Chiron, and with the War God as
the only wielder of the thunderbolt.b I am indeed
surprised that the people over whom Achilles once
ruled had a reputation for magic so lasting that
actually Menander, a man with an unrivalled gift for
sound literary taste, gave the name " Thessala " to
his comedy, which deals fully with the tricks of the
women for calling down the moon. I would believe
that Orpheus was the first to carry the craft to his
near neighbours. and that his superstition grew from
medicine, if the whole of Thrace, the home of
Orpheus, had not been untainted by magic. The
first man, so far as I can discover, to write a still-
extant treatise on magic was Osthanes, who ac-
companied the Persian King Xerxes in his invasion
of Greece, and sowed what I may call the seeds of this
monstrous craft, infecting the whole world by the
way at every stage of their travels. A little before
Osthanes, the more careful inquirers place another
Zoroaster, a native of Proconnesus. One thing
is certain; it was this Osthanes who chiefly roused
among the Greek peoples not so much an eager
appetite for his science as a sheer mania. And
yet I notice that of old, in fact almost always,
the highest literary distinction and renown have
been sought from that science. Certainly Pytha-

a I.e. " Thessalian." The word suggested witchcraft.
6 With the reading fulminantl : " whose only thunder was
that of their War God."

283

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

9 certe Pythagoras, Kmpedocles, Democritus, Plato ad
hanc discendam navigavere exiliis verius quam pere-
grinationibus susceptis, hanc reversi praedicavere,
hanc in arcanis habuere. Democritus Apollo-
bechem Coptitem et Dardanum e Phoenice in-
lustravit, voluminibus Dardani in sepulchrum eius
petitis, suis vero ex disciplina eorum editis, quae
recepta ab ullis hominum atque transisse per
memoriam aeque ac nihil in vita mirandum est. in
tantum fides istis fasque omne deest, adeo ut qui

10 cetera in viro probant haec opera eius esse infitientur.1
sed frustra, hunc enim maxime adfixisse animis eam
dulcedinem constat. plenumque miraculi et hoc,
pariter utrasque artes effloruisse, medicinam dico
magicenque, eadem aetate illam Hippocrate, hanc
Democrito inlustrantibus, circa Peloponnensiacum
Graeciae bellum quod gestum est a trecentesimo

11 urbis nostrae anno. est et alia magices factio a
Mose et Janne et Lotape 2 ac Iudaeis pendens, sed
multis milibus annorum post Zoroastrem. tanto
recentior est Cypria. non levem et Alexandri
Magni temporibus auctoritatem addidit professioni
secundus Osthanes comitatu eius exornatus, plane-
que, quod nemo dubitet, orbem terrarum pera-
gravit.

12 III. Extant certe et apud Italas gentes vestigia
eius in XII tabulis nostris aliisque argumentis quae

1 infitient ur Mayhoff : inficientur codd.

2 Lotape codd. : Iotape Gelenius.

a See Torrey, The Magic of Lotapes (Journal of Biblical
Literature, 1949, 325-327). Pliny should have written
Iotape = lurra ttt} = Yahweh. Jannes was not a Hebrew

284

BOOK XXX. ii. 9-m. 12

goras, Empedocles, Demoeritus and Plato went
overseas to learn it, going into exile rather than on
a journey, taught it openly on their return, and con-
sidered it one of their most treasured secrets.
Democritus expounded Apollobex the Copt and
Dardanus the Phoenician, entering the latter's tomb
to obtain his works and basing his own on their
doctrines. That these were accepted by any human
beings and transmitted by memory is the most extra-
ordinary phenomenon in history ; so utterly are they
lacking in credibility and decency that those who
like the other works of Democritus deny that the
magical books are his. But it is all to no purpose,
for it is certain that Democritus especially instilled
into men's minds the sweets of magic. Another
extraordinary thing is that both these arts, medicine
I mean and magic, flourished together, Democritus
expounding magic in the same age as Hippocrates
expounded medicine, about the time of the Pelopon-
nesian War, which was waged in Greece from the
three-hundredth year of our city. There is yet
another branch of magic, derived from Moses,
Jannes, Lotapes,a and the Jews, but living many
thousand years after Zoroaster. So much more
recent is the branch in Cyprus. In the time too of
Alexander the Great, no slight addition was made to
the influence of the profession by a second Osthanes,
who, honoured by his attendance on Alexander,
travelled certainly without the slightest doubt all
over the world.

III. Among Italian tribes also there still certainly
exist traces of magic in the Twelve Tables, as is

but an Egyptian magician, who competed with Moses. See
Epistle to Timothy, II. 3, 8.

285

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

priore volumine exposui. DCLYII demum anno
urbis Cn. Cornelio Lentulo P. Licinio Crasso cos.
senatusconsultum factum est ne homo immolaretur,
palamque in tempus illut sacra prodigiosa celebrata.

13 IV. Gallias utique possedit, et quidem ad nostram
memoriam. namque Tiberii Caesaris principatus
sustulit Druidas eorum et hoc genus vatum medi-
corumque. sed x quid ego haec commemorem in arte
oceanum quoque transgressa et ad naturae inane per-
vecta ? Britannia hodieque eam adtonita celebrat
tantis caerimoniis ut dedisse Persis videri possit.
adeo ista toto mundo consensere quamquam discordi
et sibi ignoto. nec satis aestimari potest quantum
Romanis debeatur, qui sustulere monstra, in quibus
hominem occidere religiosissimum erat, mandi vero
etiam saluberrimum.

14 V. Ut narravit Osthanes, species eius plures sunt.
namque et aqua et sphaeris et aere et stellis et
lucernis ac pelvibus securibusque et multis aliis
modis divina promittit, praeterea umbrarum in-
ferorumque colloquia. quae omnia aetate nostra
princeps Nero vana falsaque comperit. quippe non
citharae tragicique cantus libido illi maior fuit,
fortuna rerum humanarum summa gestiente 2 in
profundis animi vitiis, primumque imperare dis con-

1 sed Gelenius , Mayhoff : ipse codd.

2 gestiente codd. : gestienti coni. Mayhoff.

a XXVIII. § 17.

b 97 B.C,

c Or: " agreement in that subjeet of magic."

286

BOOK XXX. iii. 12-V. 14

proved by my own and the other evidence set forth
in an earlier Book.° It was not until the 657th year
of the City b that in the consulship of Gnaeus Cor-
nelius Lentulus and Publius Licinius Crassus there
was passed a resolution of the Senate forbidding
human sacrifice ; so that down to that date it is
manifest that such abominable rites were practised.

IV. Magic certainly found a home in the two Gallic
provinces, and that down to living memory. For the
principate of Tiberius Caesar did away with their
Druids and this tribe of seers and medicine men.
But why should I speak of these things when the
craft has even crossed the Ocean and reached the
empty voids of Xature ? Even today Britain
practises magic in awe, with such grand ritual that
it might seem that she gave it to the Persians. Sc
universal is the cult of magic c throughout the world.
although its nations disagree or are unknown to each
other. It is beyond calculation how great is the debt
owed to the Romans, "\vho swept away the mon-
strous rites, in which to kill a man was the highest
religious duty and for him to be eaten a passport to
health.

V. As Osthanes said, there are several forms of
magic ; he professes to divine from water, globes, air,
stars, lamps, basins and axes, and by many other
methods, and besides to converse with ghosts and
those in the underworld. All of these in our genera-
tion the Emperor Xero discovered to be lies and
frauds. In fact his passion for the lyre and tragic
song was no greater than his passion for magic ; his
elevation to the greatest height of human fortune
aroused desire in the vicious depths of his mind ;
his greatest wish was to issue commands to the gods,

287

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

cupivit, nec quicquam generosius voluit. nemo um-

15 quam ulli artium validius favit. ad hoc non opes
defuere, non vires, non discentis ingenium, quae non
alia patiente mundo ! inmensum, indubitatum ex-
emplum est falsae artis quam dereliquit Nero, uti-
namque inferos potius et quoscumque de suspitioni-
bus suis deos consuluisset quam lupanaribus atque
prostitutis mandasset inquisitiones eas ! nulla pro-
fecto sacra, barbari licet ferique ritus, non mitiora
quam cogitationes eius fuissent. saevius sic1 nos
replevit umbris.

16 VI. Sunt quaedam Magis perfugia, veluti lenti-
ginem habentibus non obsequi numina aut cerni.
num obstitit 2 forte hoc in illo ? nihil membris defuit.
nam dies eligere certos liberum erat, pecudes vero
quibus non nisi ater colos esset facile. nam homines
immolare etiam gratissimum. Magus ad eum Tiri-
dates venerat Armeniacum de se triumphum adferens

17 et ideo provinciis gravis. navigare noluerat, quoniam
expuere in maria aliisque mortalium necessitatibus
violare naturam eam fas non putant. Magos secum
adduxerat, magicis etiam cenis eum initiaverat, non
tamen, cum regnum ei daret, hanc ab eo artem acci-
pere valuit.3 proinde ita persuasum sit, intestabilem,
inritam, inanem esse, habentem tamen quasdam
veritatis umbras, sed in his veneficas artes pollere,

18 non magicas. quaerat aliquis, quae sint mentiti

1 hic vel is sic coni. Warmington.

2 num obstitit ego coni. post Pintianum j an obstitit May-
hoff : non (pro num) dTE : obstet aliquot codd., Detlefsen.

■ valuit d(?) vulg., Detlefsen, Mayhoff : voluit paene omnes
codd. et Max/hoff in Appendice.
288

BOOK XXX. v. 14-vi. 18

and he could rise to no nobler ambition. Xo other
of the arts ever had a more enthusiastic patron.
Every means were his to gratify his desire — wealth,
strength, aptitude for learning — and what else did
the world not allow ! That the craft is a fraud there
could be no greater or more indisputable proof than
that Xero abandoned it ; but would that he had
consulted about his suspicions the powers of Hell
and any other gods whatsoever, instead of entrusting
these researches to pimps and harlots. Of a surety
no ceremony, outlandish and savage though the
rites may be, would not have been gentler than Xeros
thoughts; more cruelly behaving than any did Xero
thus fill our Rome with ghosts.

VI, The Magi have certain means of evasion ; for
example that the gods neither obey those with
freckles nor are seen by them. Was this perhaps
their objection to Xero ? But his body was without
blemish ; he was free to choose the fixed days, could
easily obtain perfectly black sheep, and as for human
sacrifice, he took the greatest delight in it. Tiridates
the Magus had come to him bringing a retinue for the
Armenian triumph over himself, thereby laying a
heavy burden on the provinces. He had refused to
travel by sea, for the Magi hold it sin to spit into the
sea or wrong that element by other necessary functions
of mortal creatures. He had brought Magi with him,
had initiated Xero into their banquets ; yet the man
giving him a kingdom was unable to acquire from
him the magic art. Therefore let us be convinced
by this that magic is detestable, vain, and idle ; and
though it has what I might call shadows of truth,
their power comes from the art of the poisoner, not
of the Magi. One might well ask what were the

289

VOL. VIII. I>

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

veteres Magi, cum adulescentibus nobis visus Apion
grammaticae artis prodiderit cynocephalian herbam,
quae in Aegvpto vocaretur osiritis, divinam et contra
omnia veneficia, sed si tota erueretur, statim eum qui
eruisset mori, seque evocasse umbras ad percunct-
andum Homerum quanam patria quibusque parenti-
bus genitus esset, non tamen ausus profiteri quid sibi
respondisse diceret.

19 VII. Peculiare vanitatis sit argumentum quod
animalium cunctorum talpas maxime mirantur tot
modis a rerum natura damnatas, caecitate perpetua,
tenebris etiamnum aliis x defossas sepultisque similes.
nullis aeque credunt extis, nullum religionum capa-
cius iudicant animal, ut si quis cor eius recens pal-
pitansque devoret,2 divinationis et rerum efficien-

20 darum eventus promittant. dente talpae vivae
exempto sanari dentium dolores adalligato adfirmant.
cetera ex eo animali placita eorum suis reddemus
locis. nec quicquam probabilius invenietur quam
muris aranei morsibus adversari eas, quoniam et terra
orbitis, ut diximus, depressa adversatur.

21 VIII. Cetero dentium doloribus, ut idem narrant,
medetur canum qui rabie perierunt capitum cinis
crematorum sine carnibus instillatus ex oleo cyprio
per aurem cuius e parte doleant, caninus dens sinister
maximus circumscarifato qui doleat aut draconis os

1 aliis aut alis codd., Mayhoff : altis Detlefsen.

2 devoret V^GRdTf : devoraret V^E1 : devorarit E2 vulg.,
Detlefsen.

a See XXIX. § 89.

290

BOOK XXX. vi. i8-viii. 21

lies of the old Magi, when as a youth I saw ApioD the
grammarian, who told me that the herb cynocephalia,
called iii Egypt osiritis, was an instrument of divina-
tion and a protection from all kinds of sorcery, but if
it were uprooted altogether the digger would die at
once, and that he had called up ghosts to inquire
from Homer his native country and the name of his
parents, but did not dare to repeat the ansAvers
which he said were given.

VII. It should be unique evidence of fraud that rhemoie.
they look upon the mole of all living creatures with

the greatest awe, although it is cursed by Nature
with so many defects, being permanently blind,
sunk in other darkness also, and resembling the
buried dead. In no entrails is placed such faith ; to
no creature do they attribute more supernatural
properties ; so that if anyone eats its heart, fresh
and still beating, they promise powers of divination
and of foretelling the issue of matters in hand. They
declare that a tooth, extracted from a living mole and
attached as an amulet, cures toothache. The rest
of their beliefs about this animal I will relate in the
appropriate places. But of all they say nothing will
be found more likely than that the mole is an antidote
for the bite of the shrewmouse, seeing that an anti-
dote for it, as I have said,a is even earth that has
been depressed by cart wheels.

VIII. Toothache is also cured, the Magi tell us, Remediesfo
by the ash of the burnt heads without any flesh of the teeth-
dogs that have died of madness, which must be
dropped in cyprus oil through the ear on the side
where the pain is ; also by the left eye-tooth of a

dog, the aching tooth being scraped round with it ;
by one of the vertebrae of the draco or of the

291

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

e spina, item enhydridis, est autem serpens masculus
et albus. huius maximo dente circumscarifant, aut
in superiorum dolore duos superiores adalligant, e

22 diverso inferiores. huius adipe perunguuntur qui
crocodilum captant. dentes scarifant et ossibus
lacertae ex fronte luna plena exemptis ita ne terram
adtingant. colluunt dentibus caninis decoctis in vino
ad dimidias partes. cinis eorum pueros tarde
dentientes adiuvat cum melle. flt eodem modo et
dentifricium. cavis dentibus cinis e murino fimo

23 inditur, vel iocur lacertarum aridum. anguinum cor
si mordeatur adalligeturve efficax habetur. sunt
inter eos qui murem bis in mense iubeant mandi
doloresque ita caveri. vermes terreni decocti in oleo
infusique auriculae cuius a parte doleat praestant
levamentum. eorundem cinis exesis dentibus coni-
ectus * ex facili 2 cadere eos cogit, integros dolentes
inlitus iuvat. comburi autem oportet in testo. pro-
sunt et cum mori radice in aceto scillite decocti ita ut

24 colluantur dentes. is quoque vermiculus qui in
herba Veneris labro appellata invenitur cavis dentium
inditus mire prodest. nam urucae brassicae eius
contactu cadunt, et a malva cimices infunduntur
auribus cum rosaceo. harenulae quae inveniuntur
in cornibus coclearum cavis dentium inditae statim

1 coniectus r Pl. Iun., Mayhoff : coiectus E : collectus d,
Detlefsen : collectis aliquot codd. : colutis Ianus.

2 ex facili aliquot codd., Detlefsen, Mayhoff : ex facile VGR.
Marcellus (XII 31) " insertus et cera opertus facile cadere eos
cogit." Fortasse coniectus et cera contectus facile. Warming-
ton coniectus facile excidere coni.

a The true text is very hard to discover. The general
sense is plain, but the parallel passage in Marcellus XII. 31
seems to suggest that a phrase like " covered with wax " has

292

BOOK XXX. viii. 21-24

enhydris, the serpent being a white male. With
this eye-tooth they scrape all round the painful one,
or they make an amulet of two upper teeth, when
the pain is in the upper jaw, using lower teeth for
the lower jaw. With its fat they rub hunters of the
crocodile. They also scrape teeth with bones ex-
tracted from the forehead of a lizard at a full moon,
without their touching the earth. They rinse the
mouth with a decoction of dogs' teeth in wine, boiled
down to one-half. The ash of these teeth with
honey helps children who are slow in teething. A
dentifrice also is made with the same ingredients.
Hollow teeth are stuffed with the ash of mouse dung
or with dried lizards' liver. A snake's heart, eaten
or worn as an amulet, is considered efficacious.
There are among them some who recommend a mouse
to be chewed up twice a month to prevent aches.
Earthworms, boiled down in oil and poured into the
ear on the side where there is pain, afford relief.
These also, reduced to ash and plugged into decayed
teeth, force them to fall out easily,0 and applied to
sound teeth relieve any pain in them. They should
be burnt, however, in an earthen pot. They also
benefit if boiled down in squill vinegar with the root
of a mulberry tree, so as to make a wash for the
teeth. The maggot also, which is found on the plant
called Venus' Bath, plugged into hollow teeth, is
wonderfully good. But they fall out at the touch
of the cabbage caterpillar, and the bugs from the
mallow are poured into the ears with rose oil. The
little grains of sand, that are found in the horns of
snails, if put into hollow teeth, free them at once

been lost. My own guess presupposes a loss of cera contectus
after coniectus. Warmington's coniecture is attractive.

293

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

liberant dolore. coclearum inanium cinis cum murra
gingivis prodest, serpentis cum sale in olla exustae
cinis cum rosaceo in contrariam aurem infusus,
anguinae vernationis membrana cum oleo taedaeque

25 resina calefacta et auri alterutri infusa — adiciunt
aliqui tus et rosaceum — eadem cavis indita ut sine
molestia cadant praestat. vanum arbitror esse circa
canis ortum angues candidos membranam eam
exuere, quoniam ante ortum J in ltalia visum est,
multoque minus credibile in tepidis regionibus tam
sero exui. hanc autem vel inveteratam cum cera
celerrime evellere tradunt, et dens anguium adalli-

26 gatus dolores mitigat. sunt qui et araneum animal
ipsum sinistra manu captum tritumque in rosaceo et
in aurem infusum cuius a parte doleat prodesse
arbitrentur. ossiculi gallinarum in pariete servati
fistula salva ; 2 tacto dente vel gingiva scarifata
proiectoque ossiculo statim dolorem abire tradunt,
item fimo corvi lana adalligato vel passerum cum
oleo calefacto et proximae auriculae infuso. pruri-
tum quidem intolerabilem facit et ideo utilius est
passeris pullorum sarmentis crematorum cinerem ex
aceto infricare.

27 IX. Oris saporem commendari adfirmant, murino
cinere cum melle si fricentur dentes. admiscent
quidam marathi radices. pinna vulturis si scalpantur

1 ante ortum Mayhoff : neutrum codd., Detlefsen.

2 in pariete servati iistula salva] Nescioquo loco latet error
nondum sanatus. Vide notam.

a Both the structure and the sense are difficult. Mayhoff
conjectures panno or puxide for parietc, but the last occurs in
similar cures in §51 and elscwhcrc. I translate as though

294

BOOK XXX. vin. 24 ix. 27

from pain. Empty snail shells, reduced to ash and
myrrh added, are good for the gums, as is the ash of a
serpent burnt with salt in an earthen pot, poured
with rose oil into the opposite ear, or the slough of a
snake with oil and pitch-pine resin warmed and poured
into either ear — some add frankincense and rose oil —
and if put into hollow teeth it also makes them fall out
without trouble. I think it an idle tale that white
snakes cast their slough about the rising of the Dog-
star, since the casting has been seen in Italy before
the rising, and in warm regions it is much less
probable for sloughing to be so late. But they say
that this slough, even when dry, combined with wax
forces out teeth very quickly. A snake's tooth also,
worn as an amulet, relieves toothache. There are
some who think that a spider also is beneficial, the
animal itself, caught with the left hand, beaten up in
rose oil, and poured into the ear on the side of the
pain. The little bones of hens have been kept
hanging on the wall of a room with the gullet intact ; a
if a tooth is touched, or the gum scraped, and the
bone thrown away, they assure us that the pain at
once disappears, as it does if a raven's dung, wrapped
in wool, is worn as an amulet, or if sparrows' dung is
warmed with oil and poured into the ear nearer the
pain. This however causes unbearable itching, and
so it is better to rub the part with vinegar and the ash
of a sparrow's nestlings burnt on twigs.

IX. They assert that the taste in the mouth is
made agreeable if the teeth are rubbed with the
ash of burnt mice mixed with honey ; some add
fennel root. If the teeth are picked with a vulture's

servati were a finite verb, and a new sentence began at tacto.
This gives the general sense.

295

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

dentes, acidum halitvmi faciunt. hoc idem hystricis
spina fecisse ad firmitatem pertinet. linguae ulcera
et labrorum hirundines in mulso decoctae sanant,
adeps anseris aut gallinae rimas, oesypum cum galla,
araneorum telae candidae et quae in trahibus x
parvae texuntur. si ferventia os intus exusserint,
lacte canino statim sanabuntur.

28 X. Maculas in facie oesypum cum melle Corsico
quod asperrimum habetur extenuat, item scobem
cutis in facie cum rosaceo inpositum vellere — quidam
et butyrum addunt — si vero vitiligines sint, fel
caninum prius acu conpunctas, ad liventia et sug-
gillata pulmones arietum pecudumque in tenues

29 consecti membranas calidi inpositi, vel columbinum
fimum. cutem in facie custodit adeps anseris vel
gallinae. lichenas et murino fimo ex aceto inlinunt
et cinere irenacei ex oleo. in hac curatione prius
nitro ex aceto faciem foveri praecipiunt. tollit ex
facie vitia et coclearum quae latae et minutae passim
inveniuntur cum melle cinis. omnium quidem
coclearum cinis spissat, calfacit, smectica vi, et ideo
causticis miscetur, psorisque et lepris et lentigini in-
linitur. invenio et formicas Herculaneas appellari
quibus tritis adiecto sale exiguo talia vitia sanentur.

30 buprestis animal est rarum in Italia, simillimum
scarabaeo longipedi. fallit inter herbas bovem
maxime, unde et nomen invenit, devoratumque tacto

1 in trabibus Hermolaus Barbarus, Mayhoff : intra bulbus
codd.

a Spissare, a favourite word of Pliny, is often of uncertain
meaning and difficult to translate. Here perhaps there is
reference to the drying up of morbid humours.

296

BOOK XXX. ix. 27-x. 30

feather, they make the breath sour. To pick them
with a porcupine's quill conduces to their firmness.
Sores on the tongue or lips are healed by a decoction
of swallows in honey wine ; chaps on them by goose
grease or hen's grease, by oesypum with gall nut, by
white webs of spiders, or by the small webs spun on
rafters. If the mouth has been scalded by over-hot
things, bitch's milk will give an immediate cure.

X. Spots on the face are removed by oesypum FacwX
with Corsican honey, which is considered the most remedies-
acrid; scurf on the skin of the face by the same
with rose oil on a piece of fleece ; some add also
butter. If however there is psoriasis, dog's gall is
applied to the spots, which are first pricked with a
needle ; to livid spots and bruises rams' or sheep's
lungs are applied hot and cut into thin slices, or else
pigeon's dung. The skin of the face is preserved by
goose grease or hen's. To lichen is also applied
mouse dung in vinegar, or ash of the hedgehog in
oil ; for this treatment they prescribe that the face
should first be fomented with soda and vinegar.
Facial troubles are also removed by the ash with
honey of the broad but small snails that are found
everywhere. The ash indeed of all snails, such is its
detergent property, thickens a and warms ; for that
reason it is an ingredient of caustic preparations and
used as a liniment for itch, leprous sores, and freckles.
I find also that there are ants called Herculanean,
wrhich beaten up and with the addition of a little salt
cure facial troubles. The buprestis is a creature
rarely found in Italy, and very similar to a long-
legged beetle. Oxen at pasture are very apt not to
see it — hence too its name — and should it be
swallowed it causes such inflammation on reaching

297

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

felle ita inflammat ut rumpat. haec cum hircino sebo
inlita lichenas ex facie tollit septica vi, ut supra
dictum est. vulturinus sanguis cum chamaeleontos
albae, quam herbam esse diximus, radice et cedria
tritus contectusque brassica lepras sanat, item pedes
locustarum cum sebo hircino triti, varos adeps gallin-
aceus cum cepa subactus. utilissimum et in facie
mel in quo apes sint inmortuae, praecipue tamen
faciem purgat atque erugat cygni adeps. stigmata
delentur columbino fimo ex aceto.

31 XI. Gravedinem invenio finiri, si quis nares
mulinas osculetur. uva x et faucium dolor mitigatur
fimo agnorum priusquam herbam gustaverint in
umbra arefacto, uva suco cocleae acu transfossae
inlita, ut coclea ipsa in fumo suspendatur, hirundinum
cinere cum melle. sic et tonsillis succurritur. ton-
sillas et fauces lactis ovilli gargarizatio adiuvat,

32 multipeda trita, fimum columbinum cum passo gar-
garizatum, etiam cum fico arida ac nitro inpositum
extra. asperitatem faucium et destillationes leniunt
cocleae — coqui debent inlotae, demptoque tantum
terreno conteri et in passo dari potu. sunt qui
Astypalaeicas efficissimas putent2 — et cinis earum,
gryllus infricatus aut si quis manibus quibus eum
contriverit tonsillas attingat.

33 XII. Anginis felle anserino cum elaterio et melle
citissime succurritur, cerebro noctuae, cinere hirun-

1 An uvae? sic coni. Mayhoff.

2 putent — et cinis earum, gryllus (cinis menarum Detlef-
sen) Urlichs, Detlefsen : putent et minimas earum — , gryllus
Mayhoff : varia codd.

a XXIX. § 59. 6 XXII. § 45.

c These are often mentioned. Slaves after manumission
might find them an embarrassment.

298

BOOK XXX. x. 30-xn. 33

the gall that it bursts the animal. This insect applied
with he-goat suet removes lichen from the face by
its corrosive property, as I have already ° said.
Vulture's blood, beaten up with cedar resin and the
root of the white chamaeleon, a plant I have already b
mentioned, and covered witb a cabbage leaf, heals
leprous sores, as do the legs of locusts beaten up with
he-goat suet. Pimples are cured by poultry fat
kneaded with onion. Very useful too for the face is
honey in which bees have died, but the best thing
for clearing the complexion and removing wrinkles is
swan's fat. Branded marks c are removed by
pigeon's dung in vinegar.

XI. I find that a heavy cold clears up if the Cokis,etc.
sufferer kisses a mule's muzzle. Pain in the uvula

and in the throat is relieved by the dung, dried in
shade, of lambs that have not yet eaten grass, uvula
pain by applying the juice of a snail transfixed by a
needle, so that the snail itself may be hung up in the
smoke, and by the ash of swallows with honey. This
also gives relief to affections of the tonsils. Gargling
with ewe's milk is a help to tonsils and throat, as is a
multipede beaten up, gargling with pigeon's dung
and raisin wine, and also an external application of it
with dried fig and soda. Sore throat and a running
cold are relieved by snails — they should be boiled
unwashed, and with only the earth taken off crushed
and given to drink in raisin wine ; some hold that the
snails of Astypalaea are the most efficacious — by their
ash, and also by rubbing with a cricket or if anybody
touches the tonsils with hands that have crushed a
cricket.

XII. In quinsy very speedy relief is afforded by Quinsy.
goose gall with elaterium and honey, by the brain of

299

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

dinis ex aqua calida poto. huius medicinae auctor
est Ovidius poeta. sed effieaciores ad omnia quae ex
hirundinibus monstrantur pulli silvestrium — figura
nidorum eas deprehendit— multo tamen efficacissimi
ripariarum pulli. ita vocant in riparum cavis nidi-
ficantes. multi cuiuscumque hirundinis pullum eden-
dum censent, ut toto anno non metuatur id malum.

34 strangulatos cum sanguine 2 comburunt in vase et
cinerem cum pane aut potu dant. quidam et
mustelae cinerem2 pari modo admiscent. sic ad
strumae remedia dant et comitialibus cotidie potui.
in sale quoque servatae hirundines ad anginam
drachma bibuntur, cui malo et nidus earum mederi

35 dicitur potus. milipedam inlini anginis efficacissi-
mum putant. alii XX tritas in aquae mulsae hemina
dari per harundinem, quoniam dentibus tactis nihil
prosint. tradunt et murem cum verbenaca excoctum,
si bibatur is liquor, remedio esse, et corrigiam cani-
nam ter collo circumdatam, fimum columbinum vino
et oleo permixtum. cervicis nervis et opisthotono ex
milvi nido surculus viticis adalligatus auxiliari dicitur,

36 strumis exulceratis mustelae sanguis, ipsa decocta in
vino ; non tamen sectis admovetur. aiunt et in cibo
sumptam idem efficere, vel cinerem eius sarmentis

1 cum sanguinc] Mayhoff anginae coni.

2 cinerem Mayhoff : cineres dEr Detlefsen.

a Perhaps " dog's lead."
300

BOOK XXX. xii. 33-36

an owl, and bv the ash of a swallow taken in hot
water. The last prescription is on the authority of
the poet Ovid. But more efficacious for all ailments
for which swallows are prescribed are the young of
wild swallows, which are recognised by the shape of
their nests, but by far the most efficacious are the
voung of sand martins, for so are called the swallows
that build their nests in holes on river banks. Many
hold that a voung swallow of any kind should be
eaten to banish the fear of quinsy for a whole year.
They wring their necks, burn them blood and all in a
vessel, and give the ash with bread or in drink.
Some add also to the prescription an equal quantity
of weasel ash. These preparations are given daily
in drink for scrofula and for epilepsy. Preserved in
salt also swallows are taken for quinsy in drachma
doses, for which complaint their nest also, taken in
drink, is said to be a cure. It is thought that an
application of millepedes is very efficacious for
quinsy ; some think that twenty, beaten up in a
hemina of hydromel, should be given through a reed.
because if the teeth are touched the draught is
thought to be useless. They also tell us that a
mouse, well boiled witfa vervain, makes a broth that is
a remedy, as does a thong of dog leather a wrapped
three times round the neck, or dove's dung thoroughly
mixed with wine and oil. For neck-sinews and
opisthotonus a twig of agnus castus taken from the
nest of a kite and worn as an amulet, is said to help,
for ulcerated scrofula a weasel's blood, or the weasel Scrofuia.
itself boiled down in wine, but it is not applied to
sores that have been lanced. They say also that
eating weasel in food has the same effect, or the
animal burned over twigs and the ash mixed with

301

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

conbustae ; miscetur axungia. lacertus viridis adal-
ligatur, post dies XXX alium adalligatum oportet.

37 quidam cor eius in argenteo vasculo servant ad
femineas J strumas et mares.2 cocleae cum testa sua
tusae inlinuntur, maxime quae frutectis adhaerent,
item cinis aspidum cum sebo taurino inponitur,
anguinus adeps mixtus oleo, item anguium cinis ex
oleo inlitus vel cum cera. edisse quoque eos medios
abscissis utrimque extremis partibus adversus
strumas prodest, vel cinerem bibisse in novo fictili
ita crematorum, efficacius multo inter duas orbitas

38 occisorum. et gryllum inlinere cum sua terra effos-
sum suadent, item fimum columbarum per sese vel
cum farina hordeacia aut avenacia ex aceto, talpae
cinerem ex melle inlinere. alii iocur eiusdem contri-
tum inter manus inlinunt et triduo non abluunt.
dextrum quoque pedem eius remedio esse strumis
adfirmant. alii praecidunt caput et cum terra a
talpis excitata tusum digerunt in pastillos pyxide
stagnea et utuntur ad omnia quae intumescant et
quae apostemata vocant quaeque in cervice sint ;

39 vesci suilla tunc vetant. tauri vocantur scarabaei
terrestres ricino similes — nomen cornicula dedere,
alii pediculos terrae vocant ; ab his quoque terram
egestam inlinunt strumis et similibus vitiis et poda-
gris, triduo non abluunt. prodest haec medicina in
annum, omniaque his adscribunt quae nos in gryllis

1 femineas Mayhoff : feminas codd. : feminarum Detlefsen.

2 mares coni. Mayhoff e Marcello: veteres codd.: strumas,
et veteres cochleae etc. coni. Warmington.

302

BOOK XXX. xii. 36-39

axle grease. A green lizard is attached as an
amulet; after thirty days the weasel should be
changed for another. Some keep a weasel's heart
in a small silver vessel for scrofula in woman or man.
An ointment is made of snails pounded with their
shells, especially those that cling to shrubs, or there
is applied the ash of asps with bull suet, snake's fat
mixed with oil, or an ointment of snake's ash in oil
or with wax. To eat also the middle part of a snake
after cutting off either end is good for scrofula, as is
to take in drink the ash of this middle burnt in new
earthenware, with much greater benefit if the snakes
have been killed between two wheel-ruts. They
recommend also the application of a cricket dug up
with its earth, also the application of dove's dung by
itself, or with barley meal or oatmeal in vinegar, or
of mole ash with honey. Some make an ointment of
a mole's liver crushed between the hands, and do not
wash it off for three days. They also assure us that
the right foot of the animal is a remedy for scrofula.
Others cut off the head, pound it with the earth of a
mole-hill, work into lozenges in a pewter box, and
use for all swellings, for what are called apostemata,
and for affections of the neck ; during the treatment
the eating of pork is forbidden. There are earth
beetles like ticks that are called " bulls " — a name
given because of their little horns — and by some
" earth lice." These too throw up earth that is
applied to scrofulous and similar sores, and also to
gouty parts, not being washed off for three days.
The efficacy of this treatment lasts for a year. To
these creatures are assigned all the properties I have
mentioned when speaking of crickets. Some also use
for this purpose the earth thrown up by ants, others

3°3

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

rettulimus. quidam et a formieis terra egesta sic
utuntur, alii vermes terrenos totidem quot sint
strumae adalligant pariterque cum his arescunt.

40 alii viperam circa canis ortum circumcidunt ut dixi-
mus, dein mediam comburunt, cinerem eum dant
bibendum ter septenis diebus quantum prenditur
ternis digitis, sic strumis medentur, aliqui vero
circumligantes lino quo praeligata infra caput vipera
pependerit donec exanimaretur. et milipedis utun-
tur addita resinae terebinthinae parte quarta, quo
medicamento omnia apostemata curari iubent.

41 XIII. Lrneri doloribus mustelae cinis cum cera
medetur. ne sint alae hirsutae formicarum ova
pueris infricata praestant, item mangonibus, ut
lanugo tardior sit pubescentium, sanguis e testiculis
agnorum, cum castrantur, qui evulsis pilis inlitis et
contra virus proficit.

42 XIV. Praecordia vocamus uno nomine exta in
homine, quorum in dolore cuiuscumque partis si
catulus lactens admoveatur adprimaturque his parti-
bus, transire in eum dicitur morbus, idque exinterato
perfusoque vino deprehendi vitiato viscere illo quod

43 doluerit homini, sed obrui tales religio est. hi quo-
que quos Melitaeos vocamus stomachi dolorem sedant
adplicati saepius. transire morbos aegritudine
eorum intellegitur, plerumque et morte. pul-
monum1 vitiis medentur et2 mures, maxime Africani,

1 Post pulmonum addunt quoque multi codd., Mayhoff: om.
d E r, Detlefsen.

2 et E r, Detlefsen : id VGRd : iidem Ianus : item Mayhoff.

° XXIX. §§70and 121.

b From the Dalmatian island of Melita.

3°4

re.y.

BOOK XXX. xii. 39-xiv. 43

tie as an amulet as many earth worms as there are
sores, which dry up as the worms shrivel. Others
about the time of the Dog-star cut off, as I have said,°
the ends of a viper, then burn the middle part and
give a three-finger pinch of the ash to be taken in
drink for thrice seven days, treating scrofulous sores
in this way ; some however do so by tying round them
a linen thread by which a viper has been suspended
by the neck until it died. They also use millepedes
with a fourth part of terebinth resin, a medicament
which they recommend for the treatment of all
apostemata.

XIII. Good treatment for pains in the shoulder is Shouiders
weasel ash and wax. Rubbing with ants' eggs pre- a£^ilato,
vents hair in the arm-pits of children, and dealers, to
delav growth of downy hair on adolescents, use blood

that comes from the testicles of lambs when they are
castrated. Applications of this blood after the hair
has been pulled out also do away with the rank
smell of the arm-pits.

XIV. Praecordia is a comprehensive name we use Cures/orthe
for the vital organs of the human body. When any 0rgans.
one of them is in pain, the application of a sucking
puppy pressed close to that part is said to transfer

the malady to it ; they add that, if the organs of the
puppy are taken out and washed with wine, by the
diseased aspect of those organs can be detected the
source of the patient's pain ; but the burial of an
animal so used is an essential part of the ritual.
Those puppies too that we call Melitaean b relieve
stomach-ache if laid frequently across the abdomen.
That the disease is transferred to the puppy is seen
by its sickening, usually even by its death. Lung
complaints are also cured by mice, especially African;

3°5

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

detracta cute in oleo et sale decocti atque in cibo
sumpti. eadem res et purulentis vel cruentis ex-

44 creationibus medetur, XV. praecipue vero coclearum
cibus stomacho. in aqua eas subfervefieri intacto
corpore earum oportet, mox in pruna torreri nihilo
addito, atque ita e vino garoque sumi, praecipue
Africanas. nuper hoc conpertum plurimis prodesse.
id quoque observant ut numero inpari sumantur.
viris tamen earum gravitatem halitus facit. prosunt
et sanguinem excreantibus dempta testa tritae in

45 aqua x potu. laudatissimae autem sunt Africanae —
ex his Iolitanae — Astypalaeicae,2 Siculae modicae,
quoniam magnitudo duras facit et sine suco, Baliari-
cae, quas cavaticas vocant, quoniam in speluncis
nascuntur. laudatae ex 3 insulis et 4 Caprearum,
nullae5 autem cibis gratae neque veteres neque
recentes. fluviatiles et albae virus habent, nec
silvestres stomacho utiles, alvum solvunt, item omnes
minutae. contra marinae stomacho utiliores, effica-
cissimae tamen in dolore stomachi e laudatis tra-

46 duntur quaecumque vivae cum aceto devoratae.
praeterea sunt quae d/ceparot vocantur, latae, multi-
fariam nascentes, de quarum usu dicemus suis locis.

1 aqua Mayhoff : aquae codd. Cf. XXVIII. § 202.

2 Ante Siculae addunt et ne VGR : om. dEr, Detlefsen:
Aetnaeae Gronovius, Sillig : item Mayhoff.

3 et ex codd. : ex Detlefsen, Mayhoff.

4 Ante Caprearum addunt codd. et aut ex : et Detlefsen,
Mayhoff.

5 nullae d r, Mayhoff: nullis VGR1 Detlefsen.

a A sauce made of small fish.

6 The phrase in aquae potu occurs in XXVIII. § 202, but
not depending on tritae.

.^o6

BOOK XXX. xiv. 43-xv. 46

they are skinned, boiled down in oil and salt, and
taken in food. The same preparation is also a cure
for expectoration of pus or blood. XV. The best
medicine, however, for the stomach is a diet of snails. snaii3,
They should be gently boiled in water, African snails
by preference, with their bodies whole, then with
nothing added grilled over a coal fire, and so taken in
wine and garum.a Recently this treatment has been
found to benefit very many sufferers, who are also
careful that the number of the snails taken is odd.
Their rank juice, however, makes the breath foul.
Pounded without their shells and taken b in water
they are also good for the spitting of blood. The
most prized snails are the African, especially those of
Iol, those of Astypalaea, moderate sized Sicilian (for
the large are hard, and without juice), and those of
the Baliaric islands, called cavaticae because they
breed in caverns. Those from the islands and of
Capreae are prized, but none whether preserved or
fresh make pleasant eating.c River snails and white
snails have a rank taste ; wood snails are not good
for the stomach, relaxing the bowels, and so with all
small snails. On the other hand sea snails d are
rather beneficial for the stomach, but of the prized
snails the most efficacious for stomach-ache are said
to be all that are swallowed alive in vinegar. More-
over, there are some snails called aKeparoi,e which
are broad, and breed in many places ; of these I shall

c The text in this part of the chapter is uncertain as well
as the punctuation. Dioscorides (II. 9) does not help, except
once in showing that a full stop should be placed with Mayhoff
after recentes.

d Periwinkles.

e I.e. " homless."

3° 7

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

gallinaceorum ventris membrana inveterata et in-
spersa potioni destillationes pectoris, et umidam
tussim vel recens tosta lenit. cocleae crudae tritae
cum aquae tepidae cyathis tribus si sorbeantur,
tussim sedant. destillationes sedat et canina cutis
cuilibet digito circumdata. iure perdicum stomachus
recreatur.

47 XVI. Iocinerum doloribus medetur mustela sil-
vestris in cibo sumpta vel iocinera eius, item viverra
porcelli modo inassata, suspiriosis multipedae ita ut
ter septenae in Attico melle diluantur et per harun-
dinem bibantur, omne enim vas nigrescit contactu.
quidam torrent sextarium in patina donec candidae
fiant, tunc melle miscent [alii centipedam vocant] x

48 et ex aqua calida dari iubent. cocleae in cibo 2 iis
quos linquit animus aut quorum alienatur mens aut
quibus vertigines fiunt, ex passi cyathis tribus singu-
lae contritae cum sua testa et calefactae in potu
datae diebus plurimum novem, aliqui singulas primo
die dedere, sequenti binas, tertio ternas, quarto duas,

49 quinto unam. sic et suspiria emendant et vomicas.
esse animal locustae simile sine pennis, quod trixallis
Graece vocetur, Latinum nomen non habeat, aliqui
arbitrantur, nec pauci auctores, hoc esse quod grylli
vocentur. ex his XX torreri iubent ac bibi e mulso
contra orthopnoeas. sanguinem expuentibus co-
cleae ; 3 si qui inlotis protropum infundat, vel
marina aqua ita decoquat et in cibo sumat, aut si

alii centipedam vocant] In uncis Mayhoff.

iubent in cibo. cocleae Mayhoff.

si qui Mayhoff est qui plerique codd., Detlefsen.

a The part in brackets (clearly a gloss on multipedae)
means : " some call it centipede."

308

BOOK XXX. xv. 46-xvi. 49

speak in the appropriate places. The skin of the
crop of poultry, sprinkled into the drink when dried,
or roasted if fresh, relieves chest catarrhs and moist
coughs. A cough is relieved by pounded raw snails
swallowed in three cyathi of tepid water, running
colds also by a piece of dog skin put round any finger.
Partridge broth acts as a tonic on the stomach.

XVI. Pains in the liver are treated by the wild
weasel, or its liver, taken in food, also by a ferret
roasted as is a sucking pig ; asthma by thrice seven
multipedes, soaked in Attic honey and sucked
through a reed, for every vessel they touch they turn
black. Some roast a sextarius of them in a pan until
they turn white, then they mix them with honey and
recommend giving them in warm water.a Snails in
food have been given to those subject to fainting,
aberration of the mind, or vertigo, a dose being one
snail in three cyathi of raisin wine, pounded with the
shell, warmed, and taken in drink for nine days at
most ; some have given one on the first day, two on
the next, three on the third, two on the fourth, and one
on the fifth. This treatment is also good for asthma
and abscesses. Some hold that there is a creature
like a locust, but without wings, called trixallis in
Greek but without a name in Latin ; some, and not
a few authorities, maintain that it is what is called in
Latin gryllus (cricket) ; twenty of these they recom-
mend to be roasted and taken in honey wine for
orthopnoea. A cure for spitting of blood are snails,
if the patient pours protropum b on them unwashed,
or if he boils them down in sea-water, and takes them

b Protropum was the must that came from the grape clusters
before they were pressed. The text here seems incapable of
restoration, but the meaning of the passage is plain.

3°9

PLINV: NATURAL HISTORY

tritae cum testis suis sumantur cum protropo ; sic et
tussi medentur. vomicas privatim sanat mel in quo

50 apes sint demortuae. sanguinem reicientibus pulmo
vulturinus vitigineis lignis conbustus adiecto flore
Punici mali ex parte dimidia, item cotoneorum lilior-
umque isdem portionibus potus mane atque vesperi
e vino, si febres absint, si minus, ex aqua in qua
cotonea decocta sint.

51 XVII. Pecudis lien recens magicis praeceptis
super dolentem lienem extenditur dicente eo qui
medeatur lieni se remedium facere. post hoc iubent
in pariete dormitorii eius tectorio includi et obsignari
anulo ter novies eademque x dici. caninus si viventi
eximatur et in cibo sumatur, liberat eo vitio. quidam

52 recentem superinligant. alii duum dierum catuli ex
aceto scillite dant ignoranti, vel irenacei lienem,
item coclearum cinerem cum semine lini et urticae
addito melle, donec persanet. liberat et lacerta
viridis viva in olla ante cubiculum dormitorium eius
cui medeatur suspensa, ut egrediens*revertensque
attingat manu, cinis e capite bubonis cum unguento,
mel in quo apes sint mortuae, araneus, et maxime
qui lycos vocatur.

53 XVIII. Upupae cor lateris doloribus laudatur,
coclearum cinis in tisana decoctarum — et per se
inlinuntur — canis rabiosi calvariae cinis potioni
inspergitur. lumborum dolori stelio transmarinus

1 eademque Mayhoff : carmenque Detlefsen : carmen d(?)
rula.: earumque ( — quae E) VRGE: anulo, terque novies
eademdici. coni. Warmington.

310

BOOK XXX. xvi. 49 xvm. $3

in food, or if pounded with their shells they are taken
with protropum ; these preparations also cure a
cough. Specific for abscesses is honey in which bees
have died. For coughing up blood a vulture's lung
burnt over vine wood, with half as much pomegranate
blossom and the same quantity of quince blossom and
of lilies, taken morning and evening in wine, if there
is no fever, otherwise in water in which quinces have
been boiled.

XVII. The fresh spleen of a sheep is placed, by a
Magian prescription, over the painful spleen of a
patient, the attendant saying that he is providing a
remedy for the spleen. After this the Magi prescribe
that it should be plastered into the wall of the
patient's bedroom, sealed with a ring thrice nine
times and the same words repeated. If a dog's
spleen is cut out of the living animal and taken in
food it cures splenic complaints ; some bind it when
fresh over the affected part. Others without the
patient's knowledge give in squill vinegar the spleen
of a two-days-old puppy, or that of a hedgehog, also
the ash of snails with linseed, nettle seed, and honey,
until there is a complete cure. Another remedy is a
live green-lizard, hung up in a pot before the door of
the bedroom of the patient, that he may touch it
with his hand on going out and coming in, the ash of
a horned owl's head with an unguent, honey in which
bees have died, or a spider, especially that called
" wolf."

XVIII. The heart of a hoopoe is a prized remedy Lumbago,
for pains in the side, as is the ash of snails boiled down Su

in barley water ; these are also used by themselves as
a liniment. The skull of a mad dog is reduced to ash
and sprinkled in drink. For lumbago an overseas

3'i

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

capite ablato et intestinis decoctus in vino cum papa-
veris nigri denarii pondere dimidio eo suco bibitur.
lacerti * virides decisis pedibus et capite in cibo
sumuntur, cocleae tres contritae cum testis suis
atque in vino decoctae cum piperis granis XV.

54 aquilae pedes evellunt in aversum a suffragine ita ut
dexter dextrae partis doloribus adalligetur, sinister
laevae. multipeda quoque, quam oniscon appella-
vimus, medetur denarii pondere ex vini cyathis
duobus pota. vermem terrenum catillo ligneo ante
fisso et ferro vincto inpositum aqua excepta 2 per-
fundere et defodere unde effoderis Magi iubent, mox
aquam bibere catillo, mire id prodesse ischiadicis
adfirmantes.

55 XIX. Dysintericos recreant femina pecudum de-
cocta cum lini semine ea 3 aqua pota, caseus ovillus
vetus, sebum ovium decoctum in vino austero. hoc
et ileo medetur et tussi veteri dysintericis stelio
transmarinus, ablatis intestinis et capite pedibusque
ac cute, decoctus aeque et in 4 cibo sumptus, cocleae

1 lacerti dE Detlefsen : lacertae R vulg., Mayhoff : lacerte
VG.

2 impositum aqua excepta] coni. aqua perfundere et
exceptum Mayhoff.

3 ea Urlichs, Detlefsen, Mayhoff : om. codd.

4 in vulg., Mayhoff : om. codd., Detlefsen.

a See note on XXVI. § 67.

6 It is not clear who " they " are, but most of this part of
Pliny seems taken from the same source as that from whieh
he took his account of the Magi.

e See XXIX. § 136.

d Mayhoffs reading would rnean : " soaked in water, taken
out, and buried, ctc." The word cxceptum, written as exceptu,

BOOK XXX. xvm. 53-xix. 55

spotted lizard, with head and intestines removed, is
boiled down in wine with half an ounce by weight of
black ° poppy, and this broth is drunk. Green
lizards, with feet and head cut off, are taken in food,
or three snails, beaten up with their shells and boiled
down in wdne with fifteen peppercorns. They b break
off, in the opposite way to the joint, the feet of an
eagle, so that the right foot is attached as an amulet
for pains in the right side, the left foot for those in
the left side. The multipede too, that I have called
oniscos,c is another remedy, the dose being a denarius
by weight taken in two cyathi of wine. The Magi
prescribe that an earth-worm should be placed upon
a wooden plate that has been split beforehand and
mended with a piece of iron, soaked in water that
has been taken d up in the dish, and buried in the
place from which it was dug out. Then the water in
the plate is to be drunk, which they say is a wonderful
remedy for sciatica.

XIX. Dysentery is relieved by a leg of mutton Dysentery.
boiled down with linseed, the broth of which is drunk,
by old cheese made with ewe's milk, and by mutton
suet boiled down in a dry wine. By this are also
benefited ileos and chronic cough, and dysentery by
a spotted lizard from overseas, boiled down with its
intestines, head, feet, and skin removed e — it is
as efncacious in food also as decocted — by two snails

might easily be taken for excepta; the transposition would
naturally follow.

e In § 53 is practically the same remedy, but in vino comes
after decocttis. In such expressions in with a noun is usual,
so that perhaps aeque is a mistake for in aqua. I have not
adopted it because an easy reading like in aqua is unlikely
to have been changed to aeque. The meaning " steadily ",
which would make good sense, seems without a parallel.

313

PLINY: NATURAL HISTOKY

duae cum ovo, utraque cum putamine contrita atque
in vase novo addito sale et passi cyathis duobus aut
palmarum suco et aquae cyathis tribus subfervefacta

56 et in potu data.1 prosunt et combustae, ut cinis
earum bibatur in vino addito resinae momento.
cocleae nudae, de quibus diximus — in Africa maxime
inveniuntur — utilissimae dysintericis, quinae com-
bustae cum denarii dimidii pondere acaciae ; ex eo
cinere dantur coclearia bina in vino myrtite aut

57 quolibet austero cum pari modo caldae. quidam
omnibus Africanis ita utuntur, alii totidem Africanas
vel latas 2 infundunt potius et, si maior fluctio sit,
addunt acaciam fabae magnitudine. senectus an-
guium dysinteriae et tenesmis in stagneo vase deco-
quitur cum rosaceo, vel si in alio, cum stagno inlinitur.
ius ex gallinaceis isdem medetur, sed veteris galli-

58 nacei vehementius salsum ius alvum ciet. membrana
gallinarum tosta et data in oleo ac sale coeliacorum
dolores mulcet — abstinere autem frugibus ante et
gallinam et hominem oportet — firaum columbinum
tostum potumque. caro palumbis in aceto decocta
dysintericis et coeliacis medetur, turdus inassatus
cum myrti bacis dysintericis, item merulae, mel in
quo apes sint inmortuae decoctum.

1 subfervefacta . . . data Mayhoff cum vet. Dal. : -tis . . .
-tis codd., !>• tlefst n.

- vel latas codd., Detlefsen : velatas (opp. nudas) Mayhoff,
qui et latas sine vel coni.

° SeeXXIX. §112.
314

BOOK XXX. xix. 55-58

with egg, each beaten up with its shell, allowed to
simmer in a new vessel with salt, two cyathi of raisin
wine or date juice, and three cyathi of water ; this
preparation is taken in drink. Snails are also
beneficial when burnt, and their ash taken in wine
with a small piece of resin. Snails without shells,
about which I have spoken a — they are found chiefly
in Africa — are very useful in dysentery ; flve are
burnt and taken with half a denarius by weight of
gum acacia ; of this ash two spoonfuls are given in
myrtle wine or any dry wine with an equal quantity
of hot water. Some, using all African snails, ad-
minister according to this recipe ; others prefer to
inject the same number of African snails or broad
snails,b adding if the flux is severe gum acacia of the
size of a bean. The cast slough of snakes is boiled
down with rose oil for dysentery and tenesmus in a
pewter vessel; if in any other kind of vessel, the
application must be made with the help of pewter.
Chicken broth is good for these two complaints, but
broth made with an old cock, thoroughly salted, is
purgative. A hen's crop, roasted and given in oil
and salt, soothes the pains of coeliac troubles — but
previously hen and patient must both abstain from
cereals c — as does dove's dung roasted and taken in
drink. The flesh of a wood-pigeon boiled in vinegar
is good for dysentery and for coeliac troubles ; for
dysentery too a thrush roasted with myrtle berries,
so are blackbirds and honey in which bees have died.

b MayhofTs velatas would mean : " with shells," but I can
find no exact parallel.

e I think that the sense is that both hen and patient must
fast, and that frugibus is used as being peculiarly applicable
to gallinam, which is ncarer to it than nominem.

315

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

59 XX. Gravissimum vitium * alvi ileos 2 appellatur.
huic resisti aiunt discerpti vespertilionis sanguine,
ctiam inlito ventre subveniri, sistit alvum coclea sicut
diximus in suspiriosis temperata, item cinis earum
quae vivae crematae sint potus ex vino austero,
gallinaceorum iocur assum aut ventriculi membrana

60 quae abici solet inveterata admixto papaveris suco —
alii recentem torrent ex vino bibendam — ius per-
dicium et per se ventriculus contritus ex vino nigro,
item palumbis ferus ex posca decoctus, lien pecudis
tostus et in vino tritus, fimum columbinum cum
melle inlitum, ossifragi venter arefactus et potus, iis
qui cibos non conficiant utilissimus, vel si manu tan-
tum teneant capientes cibum. quidam adalligant
ex hac causa, sed continuare non debent, maciem
enim facit. sistit et anatum mascularum sanguis.

61 inflationes discutit coclearum cibus, tormina lien
ovium tostus atque e vino potus, palumbus ferus ex
posca decoctus, adips otidis ex vino, cinis ibide sine
pennis cremata potus. quod praeterea traditur in
torminibus mirum est, anate adposita ventri transire

62 morbum anatemque emori. tormina et melle curan-
tur in quo sunt apes inmortuae decocto. coli vitium
efficacissime sanatur ave galerita assa in cibo sumpta.
quidam in vase novo cum plumis exuri iubent con-
terique in cinerem, bibi ex aqua coclearibus ternis

1 vitium d E, Detlefsen, Mayhoff : vulnus vitium VGR :
ventris vitiuni Urlichs.

- alvi ileos Ianus, Detlefsen, Mayhoff : apu (apii VG) illi
eos V6E : apuleius R.

0 See § 48.
310

BOOK XXX. xx. 59-62

XX. The most serious disease of the abdomen is iieos and
ileos. It may be combated, they say, by tearing a iZ^abZmin.
bat apart and drinking its blood ; it is also a help to
rub the belly with it. Looseness of the bowels is
checked by a snail prepared according to my pre-
scription a for asthma, and also by the ash, taken in
a dry wine, of snails that have been burnt alive.
Other remedies are : the roasted liver of cocks or the
skin of their crop, usually thrown away, mixed with
poppy juice if dried, while some roast it fresh to be
given in wine, partridge broth and its crop pounded
by itself in dark wine, also wild wood-pigeon boiled
down in vinegar and water, spleen of a sheep roasted
and beaten up in wine, pigeon's dung applied with
honey, the gizzard of an osprey dried and taken in
drink, very beneflcial to those who cannot digest
their food, even if they only hold it in their hand
while eating. Some use it as an amulet for this
purpose, but it must not be so used continuously, for
it makes the body thin. Looseness is also checked
by the blood of drakes. Flatulence is dispersed by
a diet of snails, griping by the spleen of sheep,
roasted and taken in wine, wild wood-pigeon boiled
down in vinegar and water, the fat of a bustard in
wine, the ash of an ibis burnt without the feathers
and taken in drink. Another prescription for
griping is of a marvellous character : it is said that
if a duck is laid on the belly, the disease is transferred
to the duck, which dies. Good for griping is also
boiled honey in which bees have died. Colic is
effectively cured by a crested lark, roasted and taken
in food. Some recommend that it should be burnt
with the feathers in a new vessel, ground to dust and
taken in water, three spoonfuls daily for four days,

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

per quadriduum, quidam cor eius adalligari femini,
alii reeens tepensque adhuc devorari.1 consularis

63 Asprenatum domus est in qua alter e fratribus colo
liberatus est ave hac in cibo sumpta et corde eius
armilla aurea incluso, alter sacrificio quodam facto
crudis laterculis ad formam camini atque, ut sacrum
peractum erat, obstructo sacello. unum est ossifrago
intestinum mirabili natura omnia devorata con-
ficienti. huius partem extremam adalligatam pro-
desse contra colum constat. sunt occulti inter-

64 aneorum morbi de quibus mirum proditur. si catuli
priusquam videant adplicentur triduo stomacho
maxime ac pectori et ex ore aegri suctum lactis acci-
piant, transire vim morbi, postremo exanimari dis-
sectisque palam fieri aegri 2 causas, jniori et"j"3
humari debere eos obrutos terra. Magi quidem
vespertilionis sanguine contacto ventre in totum
annum caveri tradunt, aut in dolore 4 si quis aquam 5
pedes eluens 6 haurire sustineat.

65 XXI. Murino fimo contra calculos inlinere ven-
trem prodest. irenacei carnem iucundam esse aiunt,
si capite percusso uno ictu interficiatur priusquam in

1 devorari d(?) Detlefsen : devoratur reliqui codd. et Mayhoff,
qui aliis pro alii scribit.

2 aegri om. Urlichs et Detlefsen: aegritudinis Warmington.

3 mori et codd. : morbi et Ianus, Detlefsen : monent May-
hoff: mox et coni. Warmington.

4 in dolore fere omnes codd., Mayhoff : per dolorem E,
Oelenius, Detlefsen.

5 per ]x>st aquam codd. : del. Detlefsen : ter Mayhoff.

c eluens Mayhoff, qui eluentia coni. : eluentem Detlefsi >t :
fluentes avX fluentis codd.: aquam per pedes fluentem Warm-
mgton.

318

BOOK XXX. xx. 62-xxi. 65

others that a lark's heart should be tied as an amulet
to the patient's thigh, and others that it should be
swallowed while fresh and still wami. The Aspren-
ates are a consular family in which one of two
brothers was cured of colic by this bird taken in food
and its heart worn in a golden bracelet, the other by
performing a certain sacrifice in a shrine of unbaked
bricks built in the shape of an oven, and when a cer-
tain rite was over blocking it up. The osprey has
only one gut, which through its wonderful character
digests everything that the bird eats ; the end of it
attached as an amulet is well known to be excellent
for colic. There are some obscure diseases of the
intestines, for which is prescribed a wonderful cure.
If, before they can see, puppies are applied for three
days especially to the stomach and chest of a
patient, and suck milk from his mouth, the power of
the disease is transferred to them ; finally they die
and dissection makes clear the patient's trouble a ;
the puppies must be buried in the earth. The
Magi indeed tell us that if the belly is touched with
a bat's blood there is protection from colic for a
whole year ; should there be pain, it is sufficient if
the patient can bring himself to drink b the water in
which he washes his feet.

XXI. Mouse dung rubbed on the belly is good for Biadder
stone in the bladder. The flesh of a hedgehog is T0U
said to be pleasant to eat if it is killed by one blow

0 Causas seems to be here the equivalent of morbos. The
emendation morbi of Jan was due to his taking causas in its
usual sense, but see XXVIII. § 218.

b MayhofTs ter would give : " to drink three times of the
water, etc." The text at the end of this chapter is very
uncertain, but the general sense is clear. I think that per
before pedes is dittography.

319

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

se urinam reddat. haec caro ad hunc modum occisi
stillicidium * vesicae 2 emendat, item suffitus ex
eodem. quod si urinam in se reddiderit, eos qui
carnem comederint stranguriae morbum contrahere

66 traditur. iubent et vermes terrenos bibi ex vino aut
pji^n ad comminuendos calculos vel cocleas decoctas
ut in suspiriosis, easdem exemptas testis tres tritasque
in vini cyatho bibi, sequenti die duas, tertio die unam,
ut stillicidia urinae emendent, testarum vero in-
anium cinerem ad calculos pellendos, item hydri iocur
bibi vel scorpionum cinerem aut in pane sumi, [vel

67 si quis ut locusta edit,] 3 lapillos qui in gallinaceorum
vesica aut in palumbium ventriculo inveniantur con-
teri et potioni inspergi, item membranam e ventri-
culo gallinacei aridam vel, si recens sit, tostam.
fimum quoque palumbinum in faba sumi contra
calculos et alias difficultates vesicae, similiter plum-
arum cinerem palumbium ferorum ex aceto mulso et
intestinorum ex his cinerem coclearibus tribus, e nido

68 hirundinum glaebulam dilutam 4 aqua calida, ossifragi
ventrem arefactum, turturis fimum in mulso decoctum
vel ipsius discoctae ius. turdos quoque edisse cum
bacis myrti prodest urinae, cicadas tostas in patellis,
milipedam oniscon bibisse et in vesicae doloribus
decoctum agninorum pedum. alvum ciet et gallin-

1 stillicidium Mayhoff : stillicidia d, Detlefsen : stillicidi in
reliqui codd.

2 vesicae Mayhoff : vessicam multi codd.

3 vel si quis ut locusta edit in uncis Mayhoff : pro ut habet
cum vidg. : vel siquis VI locustas edit Detlefsen.

4 glaebulam dilutam ex Pl. iun. et Marcello Hard. \ fimum
dilutum Detlefsen : grillum dirutum multi codd.

320

BOOK XXX. xxi. 65-68

on the head before it can void its urine on itself. The
flesh of hedgehogs killed in this manner is a remedy
for obstruction to the urine ; another is fumigation
with the same animal. Should however it have
voided its urine on itself those who have eaten the
flesh are said to be attacked by strangury. It is
also recommended, in order to break up stone, to
take earthworms in wine or raisin wine, or snails
boiled down as for asthma a ; three snails taken from
their shells, pounded, and given in a cyathus of wine,
on the next day two, and on the third day one, for
removing difficulty of urination ; but the ash of the
empty shells for expelling stone ; the liver of a water
snake or the ash of scorpions to be taken in drink or
in bread,6 the grits to be found in the gizzard of
poultry or in the crop of wood-pigeons to be crushed
and sprinkled on drink, also the skin of the crop of
poultry. When dried, or roasted when fresh, the
dung too of wood-pigeons to be taken in beans for
stone and other bladder trouble ; the ash too of wild
wood-pigeon's feathers in oxymel, three spoonful-
doses of their intestines reduced to ash, a bit of earth c
from a swallow's nest diluted with warm water, the
crop of an osprey dried, dung of a turtle-dove boiled
down in honey wine, or the broth of the bird itself.
To eat thrushes also with myrtle berries is good for
the urine, cicadas roasted in a shallow pan, to take in
drink the millepede oniscos, and for pains in the
bladder the broth of lambs' trotters. Chicken broth

a See § 48 of this Book.

6 The part in brackets would mean : " or if taken with a
locust (cum locusta) ," " or if six locusts are eaten " (Detlefsen).

c Detlefsen'9 reading : " diluted dung " : that of the
MSS. : " a cricket taken."

321

VOL. VIII. M

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

aceorum discoctorum ius et acria mollit, ciet et
hirundinum fimum adiecto melle subditum.

69 XXII. Sedis vitiis efricacissima sunt oesypum —
quidam adiciunt pompholvgem * et rosaceum — canini
capitis cinis, senecta serpentis ex aceto, si rhagades
sint, cinis fimi canini candidi cum rosaceo — aiunt in-
ventum Aesculapii esse eodemque et verrucas
efficacissime tolli — murini fimi einis, adeps cycni,
adeps bovae. procidentia ibi sucus coclearum

70 punctis evocatus inlitu repellit. adtritis medetur
cinis muris silvatici cum melle, fel irenacei cum
vespertilionis cerebro et canino lacte, adeps anserinus
cum cerebro et alumine et oesypo, fimum colum-
binum cum melle, condylomatis privatim araneus
dempto capite pedibusque infricatus ; ne acria
perurant, adeps anserinus cum cera Punica, cerussa,
rosaceo, adeps cycni. hic et haemorroidas sanare

71 dicitur. ischiadicis cocleas crudas tritas cum vino
Aminneo et pipere potu prodesse dicunt, lacertam
viridem in cibo ablatis pedibus, interaneis, capite, sic
et stelionem adiectis huic papaveris nigri obolis tri-
bus, ruptis, convulsis fel ovium cum lacte mulierum.

72 verendoruin formicationibus verrucisque medetur
arietini pulmonis inassati sanies, ceteris vitiis vellerum
eius vel sordidorum cinis ex aqua, sebum ex omento

1 pompholygem Hermolaus Barbarua : varia codd. : cf.
§106.

a A deposit from thc smoke of smelting furnaces.
322

BOOK XXX. xxi. 68-xxn. 72

too is laxative and softens acridities, laxative too is
the dung of swallows with honey used as a suppository.

XXII. For complaints of the anus very efficacious Anus
are wool grease — some add pompholyx a and rose comp
oil — dog's head reduced to ash, a serpent's slough in
vinegar, if there are chaps, the ash of white dog's-
dung with rose oil — it is said to have been a discovery
of Aesculapius, removing warts also verv efficaciously
— ash of mouse dung, fat of a swan, fat of a boa.
Prolapsus there is reduced by an application of snail
juice extracted by pricks. Chafmgs are relieved by
the ash of a field mouse with honey, the gall of a
hedgehog with the brain of a bat and bitch's milk, by
goose grease with goose brain, alum and wool grease,
and by pigeon dung with honey ; specific for condyl-
omata is a spider rubbed on the place when the head
and feet have been removed ; to prevent the smart
from acrid juices, apply goose grease with Punic
wax, white lead, rose oil, and swan fat. This fat is
said also to cure haemorrhoids. They say that
beneficial for sciatica are raw snails, pounded with
Aminnean b wine and pepper and taken in drink, a
green lizard taken in food, but with feet, bowels and
head removed, also so treated a spotted lizard with
the addition of three oboli of black poppy c ; for
ruptures and sprains, sheep's gall with woman's milk.
Itching eruptions and warts on the privates are
treated with the gravy from the roasted lung of a c0f^laints
ram, other genital affections by the ash, applied gemtais, etc.
with water, of raw, even unwashed, ram's wool, by

b Mayhoff has a note (XXXIV. § 103) on this word. He
prefers the spelling " Amminean."

c For " black poppy " see note on XXVI. § 67 (vol. VII.
p. 313).

323

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

pecudis, praecipue a renibus, admixto pumicis cinere
et sale, lana sucida ex aqua frigida, carnes pecudis
combustae ex aqua. mulae ungularum cinis, dentis
caballini contusi farina inspersa, testibus vero farina
ex ossibus capitis sine carne tusis. si decidat testium
alter, spumam coclearum inlitam in remedio esse tra-

73 dunt. taetris ibi ulceribus et manantibus auxiliantur
canini capitis recentes cineres, cocleae parvae latae
contritae ex aceto, senectus anguium ex aceto vel
cinis eius, mel in quo apes sint inmortuae cum resina,
cocleae nudae, quas in Africa gigni diximus, tritae
cum turis polline et ovorum albo. XXX die resol-

74 vunt ; aliqui pro ture bulbum admiscent. hydro-
celicis stelionis mire prodesse tradunt capite, pedi-
bus, interaneis ademptis relicum corpus inassatum —
in cibo id saepius datur — sicut ad urinae incon-
tinentiam caninum adipem cum alumine schisto
fabae magnitudine, cocleas Africanas cum sua carne
et testa crematas poto cinere, anserum trium linguas
inassatas in cibo. huius rei auctor est Anaxilaus.

75 at panos aperit sebum pecudum cum sale tosto, muri-
num fimum admixto turis polline et sandaraca dis-
cutit, lacertae cinis et ipsa divisa inposita, item multi-
peda contrita admixta resina terebinthina ex parte
tertia — quidam et sinopidem admiscent — cocleae
contusae per se, cinis inanium coclearum cerae

a See ^ 56.

6 A Pythagorean banished by Augustus for magic practices.

324

BOOK XXX. xxn. 72-75

the suet from the caul of a sheep, especially that of
the kidneys, mixed with salt and the ash of pumice,
by greasy wool in cold water, by the burnt iiesh of
sheep in water, by the ash of a she-mule's hoofs, bv
the tooth of a horse, ground to powder and dusted
on the parts, and complaints of the testicles by the
bones of a horse's head ground to powder without the
flesh. If either testicle hangs down, we are told
that a remedy is found in applying the slime of snails.
Foul and running ulcers on these parts are relieved
by the fresh ashes of a dog's head, by the small broad
kind of snail beaten up in vinegar, by the slough of a
snake or its ash in vinegar, by honey in which bees
have died mixed with resin, by the shell-less kind of
snail, which I have said ° breeds in Africa, beaten up
with powdered frankincense and white of eggs ; the
application is removed 011 the thirtieth dav, and
some add a bulb instead of frankincense. Hydrocele,
they tell us, is wonderfully benefited by the spotted
lizard : head, feet, and bowels are removed, and the
rest of the body is roasted — frequent doses are given
in food — in food too for incontinence of urine they
prescribe dog fat with split alum in doses the size of
a bean, African snails burnt with their flesh and shell,
the ash being taken in drink, three roasted geese
tongues taken in food. Sponsor for this treatment
is Anaxilaus.6 But superncial abscesses are opened
by mutton suet and roasted salt ; they are dispersed
by mouse dung mixed with powdered frankincense
and sandarach, by ash of a lizard or the lizard itself,
split and applied, also by multipedes pounded and
mixed with one third part of terebinth resin — some
add also red ochre of Sinope — by crushed snails by
themselves, or by the ash ofempty snail-shells mixed

325

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

mixtus. discussoriam vim habet fimum columbarum
per sese vel cum farina hordeacia aut avenacia in-
litum. cantharides mixtae calce panos scalpelli vice
auferunt, inguinum tumorem cocleae minutae cum
melle inlitae leniunt.

76 XXIII. Varices ne nascantur, lacertae sanguine
pueris crura ieiunis a ieiuno inlinuntur. podagras
lenit eosypum cum lacte mulieris et cerussa, fimum
pecudum quod liquidum reddunt, pulmones pecudum,
fel arietis cum sebo, mures dissecti inpositi, sanguis
mustelae cum plantagine inlitus et vivae combustae
cinis ex aceto et rosaceo J — penna inlinatur vel si cera
et rosaceum admisceatur — fel caninum ita ne manu
attingatur, sed penna inlinatur, fimum gallinarum,
vermium terrenorum cinis cum melle ita ut tertio

77 die solvantur. aliqui 2 ex aqua inlinere malunt, alii
ipsos — acetabuli 3 mensura 4 cum mellis cyathis tri-
bus, pedibus ante rosaceo perunctis. cocleae latae
potae tollere dicuntur pedum et articulorum dolores.
bibuntur autem binae in vino tritae. eaedem in-
linuntur cum helxines herbae suco. quidam ex
aceto intrivisse contenti sunt. sale y quidam cum
vipera crematus *j' 5 in olla nova saepius sumpto aiunt

1 Hic add. si E r : om. ceteri codd.

2 aliqui YGRdT : alium E r : ali eum Detlefsen.

3 acetabuli vet. Dal. : aceto codd.

4 mensura aut mensuram codd. : macerant Detlefsen.

5 quidam . . . crematus codd. : quidam . . . cremata
Urlichs, Detlefsen: qui una . . . crematus sit Mayhoff:
cremato Warmington: ego obelos addo.

a Or : " or it may be made Lnto ointment with wax and
oil " ; a puzzling Bentence wiili a parenthesis of uncertain
lengtli, Detlefsen ending it at inli/ialur.

326

BOOK XXX. xxii. 75-xxiiL 77

with wax. Power to disperse is possessed by pigeon's
dung, applied by itself or with barley meal or with
oatmeal. Cantharides mixed with lime remove
superfieial abscesses as well as the lancet ; swelling
of the groin is relieved by an application of small
snails with honey.

XXIII. To prevent varicose veins the legs of Vancose
ehildren are rubbed with lizard's blood, but both *%£** go'
patient and rubber must be fasting. Gouty pains are
soothed by oesypum with woman's milk and white
lead, by the dung of sheep that they pass liquid, by
lungs of sheep, by ram's gall with ram's suet, by mice
split and laid on the parts, by blood of a weasel applied
with plantain and the ash of a weasel burnt alive
with vinegar and rose oil — the remedy should be
applied with a feather even a if wax and oil are made
ingredients — by dog's gall, which must not be
touched by hand but applied with a feather, by dung
of hens, by ash of earth-worms with honey, taken ofF
011 the third day. Some prefer to apply the worms
in water, others prefer to rub the feet first with rose
oil and then to apply without water an acetabulum °
of worms with three cyathi of honey. Snails of the
broad kind taken in drink are said to banish pains of
the feet and joints ; the dose is two pounded in wine.
They are also applied with juice of the plant helxine ;
some are content to beat them up in vinegar. Salt,
burnt c with a viper in a new jar and taken fre-

b With Detlefsen's reading : " they macerate the worms
themselves in vinegar."

c I have added daggers because, although the sense is plain,
the actual words of Pliny are more than uncertain. The
origin of the trouble seems to be the intrusion of quidam
repeated from the preceding sentence. Pliny may be referring
to salt in which a viper has been preserved ; cf. § 1 17.

327

PLINV: NfATURAL HISTORY

podagra liberari, utile esse et adipe viperino pedes

78 perungui. et de milvo adfirmant, si inveterato trito-
que quantum tres digiti capiant bibatur ex aqua, aut
si pedes sanguine eius perunguantur. inlinuntur et
columbarum sanguine x cum urtica, vel pennis earum
cum primum nascentur tritis cum urtica. quin et
fimus earum articulorum doloribus inlinitur, item
cinis mustelae aut coclearum, et cum amvlo vel
tragacantha. incussos articulos aranei telae com-
modissime curant. sunt qui cinere earum uti malint
sicut fimi columbini cinere cum polenta et vino albo.

79 articulis luxatis praesentaneum est sebum pecudis
cum cinere e capillo mulierum. pernionibus quoque
inponitur sebum pecudum cum alumine, canini
capitis cinis aut fimi murini. quod si pura sint,
ulcera cera addita ad cicatricem perducunt . . . 2 vel
glirium crematorum favilla ex oleo, item muris silva-
tici cum melle, vermium quoque terrenorum cum
oleo vetere et cocleae quae nudae inveniuntur.

80 ulcera omnia pedum sanat cinis earum quae vivae
combustae sint, fimi gallinarum cinis, exulcerationes
columbini fimi ex oleo. adtritus calciamentorum
veteris soleae 3 cinis, agninus puimo et arietis sanant,
dentis caballini contusi farina privatim subluviem,
lacertae viridis sanguis subtritus et hominum et

1 eius perunguantur . . . sanguine add. Mayhoff : milvi vel
columbarum unguantur Urlichs, Detlefsen : lacunam indicat
Silluj.

2 Ego lacunam indico : soricum add. Mayhoff.

3 soleae vulg. e Pl. iun. et Marcello : soli RdE, Detlefsen.

u I have translated the words added by Mayhoff, because
the}' are rather more likely than the addition of Urlichs
adopted by Detlefsen.

3*8

BOOK XXX. xxm. 77-80

quently, frees they say from gout, adding that it is
also beneficial to rub the feet \vith viper fat. They
assure us also that the kite is a remedy ; it is dried,
pounded, and a three-finger pinch taken in water,
or the feet are rubbed with its blood. To the feet is
also applied the blood of pigeons a with nettles, or
their feathers may be used when they are just
sprouting, beaten up with nettles. Moreover their
dung is applied to painful joints, also the ash of a
weasel or of snails, and with starch or tragacanth.
Bruised joints are treated very effectively with
spider's web ; some prefer to use the ash of it, or
else that of pigeon's dung with pearl barley and
white wine. For dislocations a sovereign remedy is
mutton suet with ash of woman's hair. For chil-
blains too is applied mutton suet with alum, or the
ash of a dog's head or of mouse dung. But if they
are clean, ulcers are brought to cicatrize <(by these) b
with the addition of wax, or by the warm ash in oil
of burnt dormice, also by that of field mice with
honey, and by that of earth-worms also with old oil
and c the snails that are found without shells. All
sores of the feet are healed by the ash of those snails
that have been burnt alive, by the ash of hens' dung,
and ulcerations by the ash of pigeon's dung in oil.
Chafings caused by foot-wear are healed by the ash
of an old shoe, by the lung of a lamb and of a ram ;
for whitlows is specific a horse's tooth ground to
powder ; chafings under the feet of man or beast are
healed by applying a green lizard's biood, corns on

6 Some plural subject is required to go with perducunt;
perhaps haec.

c The et would be strange unless it joins the two ingredients,
favilla and cocleae.

329

PLLW: NATURAL HISTORY

iumentorum pedes sublitus, clavos pedum urina muli
mulaeve cum luto suo inlita, fimum ovium, iocur
lacertae viridis vel sanguis flocco inpositus, vermes
terreni ex oleo, stelionis caput cum viticis pari modo
tritum ex oleo, fimum columbinum decoctum ex

81 aceto, verrucas omnium generum urina canis recens
cum suo luto inlita, fimi canini cinis cum cera, fimum
ovium, sanguis recens murinus inlitus vel ipse mus
divolsus, irenacei fel, caput lacertae vel sanguis vel
cinis totius, membrana senectutis anguium, fimum
gallinae cum * oleo ac nitro. cantharides cum uva
taminia intritae exedunt, sed ita erosas aliis quae ad
persananda ulcera demonstravimus curari oportet.

82 XXIV. Nunc praevertemur ad ea quae totis cor-
poribus metuenda sunt. fel canis nigri masculi
amuletum esse dicunt Magi domus totius suffitae eo
purificataeve contra omnia mala medicamenta, item
sanguinem 2 canis respersis parietibus genitaleque 3
eius sub limine ianuae defossum.4 minus mirentur
hoc qui sciunt foedissimum animalium in quantum
magnificent ricinum, quoniam uni nullus sit exitus
saginae nec finis alia quam morte, diutius in fame
viventi. septenis ita diebus durasse tradunt, at in

83 satietate paucioribus dehiscere ; hunc ex aure sinistra
canis omnes dolores sedare adalligatum. indicium

1 gallinae cum Mayhoff : gallinaceum (sine cum) Detlefsen
et VE : gallinaceum cum R d.

2 sanguinem V, Detlefsen, Mayhoff : sanguine plerique codd.

3 genitaleque Sillig, Detlefsen, Mayhoff : genitalique codd.

4 defossum Detlefsen, Mayhoff. multi codd. : defosso
d(?)E.

0 I have kept with misgiving Ihe readings of both Detlefsen
and Mayhoff: ablatives absolute are perhaps more likely, for

33°

BOOK XXX. xxiii. 8o-xxiv. 83

the feet bv applying the urine of a mule, male or
female, with the mud made by it, by the dung of

sheep, bv the liver or blood of a green lizard laid on
a piece of wool, by earth-worms in oil, by the head
of a spotted lizard with an equal quantity of agnus
castus beaten up in oil, by pigeon's dung boiled down
in vinegar ; all kinds of warts are cured by fresh dog's
urine applied with its mud, by the ash of dog's dung
with wax, by the dung of sheep, by the application
of fresh mouse-blood, or of a mouse itself torn
asunder, bv the gall of a hedgehog, by the head or
blood of a lizard or the ash of the whole creature, by
the slough of snakes, or by the dung of a hen with
oil and soda. Cantharides beaten up with Taminian
grapes eat away warts, but when corroded in this
way they must be treated by the other remedies I
have prescribed for the complete healing of ulcers.

XXIV. Xow I will turn to those ills that threaten Diseasesof
the whole body. The Magi say that the gall of a l^hole
black male dog, if a house is fumigated or purified
with it, acts as a talisman protecting all of it from
sorcerers' potions ; it is the same if the inner walls
are sprinkled with the dog's blood or his genital a
organ is buried under the threshold of the front door.
Those would wonder less at this who know how highly
the Magi extol that very loathsome animal the tick,
on the ground that it is the only creature that has
no vent for its gorging, nor yet any end save at
death, living longer if it starves ; they tell us that so
it lasts for seven days, but if they eat to satiety they
burst in a shorter time. They add that a tic-k from
the left ear of a dog, worn as an amulet, relieves all

que after a short e is most unusual. See Onnerfors, Pliniana
p. 164.

331

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORV

ia augurio vitalium habent, nam si aeger ei respon-
deat qui intulerit a pedibus stanti interrogantique
de morbo, spem vitae certam esse, moriturum nihil
respondere. adiciunt ut evellatur ex aure laeva

84 canis cui non sit alius quam niger color. Nigidius
fugere toto die canes conspectum eius qui e sue id
animal evellerit scriptum reliquit. rursus Magi tra-
dunt lymphatos sanguinis talpae adspersu resipiscere,
eos vero qui a nocturnis diis Faunisque agitentur
draconis lingua et oculis et felle intestinisque in vino
et oleo decoctis ac sub diu nocte refrigeratis perunc-
tionibus matutinis vespertinisque liberari.

85 XXV. Perfrictionibus remedio esse tradit Nicander
amphisbaenam serpentem mortuam adalligatam vel
pellem tantum eius, quin immo arbori quae caedatur
adalligata non algere caedentes faciliusque sic
caedere. ita * sola serpentium frigori se committit,
prima omnium procedens et ante cuculi cantum.
aliud est cuculo miraculum : quo quis loco primum
audiat alitem illam si dexter pes circumscribatur ac
vestigium id effodiatur, non gigni pulices ubicumque
spargatur.

86 XXYL Paralysim caventibus pinguia glirium de-
coctorum et soricum utilissima tradunt esse, mili-
pedas ut in angina diximus potas ; phthisim sentien-
tibus 2 lacertam viridem decoctam in vini sextariis

1 ita E : itaque VRd vulg. : ista Detlefsen : ita. quae
Mayhoff.

2 Post sentientibus dist. plerique editores; post potas cum
Pl. iun. et Marcello Mayhoff.

a Theriaca 377 foll. So named because it could move back-
wards or forwards.
b §35.

332

BOOK XXX. xxiv. 83-xxvi. 86

pains. They also consider the tick a prognostication
of life or death, for if the patient at the beginning of
his illness makes reply wheri he who has brought in
with him a tick, standing at his feet inquires about
the illness, there is sure hope of recovery ; should no
reply be made the patient will die. They add that
the tick must be taken from the left ear of a dog
that is completelv black all over. Nigidius has left
it in writing that dogs run away for a whole day from
the sight of one who has caught a tick on a pig.
Again, the Magi tell us that sprinkling with mole's
blood restores to their senses the delirious, while
those who are haunted by night ghosts and goblins
are freed from their terrors if tongue, eyes, gall, and
intestines of a python are boiled down in wine and
oil, cooled by night in the open air, and used as
embrocation night and morning.

XXV. For feverish chills Xicander gives as a chuis.
remedy a dead serpent, the amphisbaena,a worn as

an amulet, or even its skin; nay, he says that, if it is
fastened to a tree that is being felled, the fellers feel
no cold and do their business more easily. So much
does this, alone of serpents, stand up to the cold,
being the first of all serpents to make its appearance,
even before the cry of the cuckoo. One wonderful
thing about the cuckoo is, that if, on the spot where
that bird is heard for the first time, the print of the
right foot is marked round and the earth dug out,
no fleas breed wherever it is sprinkled.

XXVI. For those warding off paralysis the fats of Pamiysis.
decocted dormice and shrew mice are said to be very
beneficial, as also millepedes taken in drink as I have
prescribed b for quinsy ; for consumptives a green
lizard boiled down in three sextarii of wine to one

333

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

tribus ad cyathum unum, singulis coclearibus sumptis
per dies donec convalescant, coclearum cinerem

87 potum in vino, XXVII. comitialibus morbis oesy-
pum cum murrae momento et vini cyathis duobus
dilutum magnitudine nucis abellanae, a balneo
potum, testiculos arietinos inveteratos tritosque
dimidio denarii pondere in aquae vel lactis asinini
hemina. interdicitur vini potus quinis diebus ante

88 et postea. magnifice laudatur et sanguis pecudum
potus, item fel cum melle, praecipue agninum, catulus
lactens sumptus absciso capite pedibusque ex vino et
murra, lichen mulae potus in oxymelite cyathis tribus,
stelionis transmarini cinis potus in aceto, tunicula
stelionis, quam eodem modo ut anguis exuit, in potu.
quidam et ipsum harundine exinteratum invetera-
tumque bibendum dederunt, alii, in cibo ligneis veri-

89 bus inassatum. operae pretium est scire quomodo
praeripiatur, cum exuatur, membrana hiberna alias
devoranti eam, quoniam nullum animal fraudulentius
invidere homini tradunt, inde stelionum nomine in
maledictum translato. observant cubile eius aestati-
bus — est autem in loricis ostiorum fenestrarumque
aut camaris sepulchrisve — ibi vere incipiente fissis
harundinibus textas opponunt ceu nassas x quarum
angustiis etiam gaudet, eo facilius exuens circum-
datum torporem. sed relicto non potest remeare.

90 nihil ei remedio in comitialibus morbis praefertur.
prodest et cerebrum mustelae inveteratum potum-

1 ceu nassas Mayhoff : casas vulg., Detlefsen: quassas codd.

a A metaphorical meaning of stelio ia " crafty person," or
" knave."

6 Mayhoff makes a good emendation, for massa was a
funnel-shaped trap into which fish could enter but froin
which they could not escape.

334

BOOK XXX. xxvi. 86-xxvn. 90

cyathus, the daily dose being one spoonful until con-
valescence, or the ash of snails taken in wine ;
XXVII. for epilepsy wool-grease with a morsel of
myrrh, diluted with two cyathi of wine, a piece the
size of a hazel nut being taken in drink, after the
bath, or the testicles of a ram dried and pounded,
half a denarius bv weight being taken in a hemina
of water or of ass's milk ; to drink wine is forbidden
for five days before and after. Very highly praised
also is the blood of sheep, taken by the mouth, the
gall of sheep, especially of a lamb, with honey, a
sucking puppy taken in wine and myrrh after the head
and feet have been cut off, the excrescence on the leg
of a she-mule taken in three cyathi of oxymel, the ash
of a spotted lizard from overseas taken in vinegar,
the coat of a spotted lizard, which it casts in the same
way as a snake, taken in drink. Some have also
given in drink the lizard itself, gutted with a reed
and dried, others in food the lizard roasted on wooden
spits. It is worth while knowing how, when cast,
the winter skin is hastily taken from the lizard,
which otherwise devours it, for no living creature,
they say, shows greater spite in cheating man, for
which reason its name a has been turned into a term
of abuse. They note in the summer time its nest,
which is in the cornices over doors and windows, or
in vaults or tombs. Over against the nest in the
beginning of spring they place cages like weels b
woven with split reeds, the narrow neck of which
gives the creature actual delight, as thereby it casts
off more easily the encumbrance of its covering, but
when this has been left no return is possible. No
remedy for epilepsy is preferred to this. A good one
too is a weasel's brain dried and taken in drink, or a

335

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

que et iocur eius, testiculi volvaeque aut ventriculus
inveteratus cum coriandro, ut diximus, item cinis,
silvestris vero tota in cibo sumpta. eadem omnia
praedicantur ex viverra. lacerta viridis cum condi-
mentis quae fastidium abstergeant, ablatis pedibus
et capite, coclearum cinis addito semine lini et

91 urticae cum melle unctu sanant. Magis placet
draconis cauda in pelle dorcadis adalligata cervinis
nervis vel lapilli e ventre hirundinum pullorum
sinistro lacerto adnexi. dicuntur enim excluso pullo
lapillum dare. quod si pullus is detur in cibo, quem
primum pepererit, cum quis primum temptatus sit,
liberatur eo malo. postea medetur hirundinum
sanguis cum ture vel cor recens devoratum. quin
et e nido earum lapillus inpositus recreare dicitur

92 confestim et adalligatus in perpetuum tueri. prae-
dicatur et iocur milvi devoratum et senectus ser-
pentium, iocur vulturis tritum cum suo sanguine ter
septenis diebus potum, cor pulli vulturini adalliga-
tum. sed et ipsum vulturem in cibo dari iubent
et quidem satiatum humano cadavere. quidam
pectus eius bibendum censent in cerrino calice, aut
testes gallinacei ex aqua et lacte, antecedente
quinque dierum abstinentia vini, ob id inveteratos.1
fuere et qui viginti unam muscas rufas, et quidem a
mortuo,2 in potu darent, infirmioribus pauciores.

1 inveteratos vulg. : inveterant Mayhojj : inveterate aut
inveteratae codd.

2 a mortuo Er Detlefsen, Mayhoff: mortuas Sillig.

• Pliny XXIX. § CO.

h The verb devorare, literally to swallow or devour, seema
sometimes, at least in Pliny, to be a synonym of edere.
e With the reading mortuas : " dead flies."

336

BOOK XXX. xxvii. 90-92

weasel's liver, testicles, uterus, or paunch, dried with
coriander, as I have said ° ; likewise its ash, or a wild
weasel taken whole in food. All the same good
qualities are praised in the ferret. A green lizard,
with seasonings to banish any nausea, the feet and
head being taken off, and an application of snails,
reduced to ash, with linseed, nettle seed, and honey,
are also cures. The Magi recommend the tail of a
python attached as an amulet in gazelle skin by deer
sinews, or the bits of stone from the crops of babv
swallows fastened to the left upper arm : for
swallows are said to administer a bit of stone to each
chick when hatched. But if, at the first attack of
epilepsy. the chick from the first egg laid is given to
the patient in food, he is freed from that complaint ;
afterwards the treatment is swallows' blood with
frankincense, or eating b a fresh swallow's heart.
Moreover, a little stone, taken from a swallow's nest
and laid on the patient, is said to give immediate
relief, and worn as an amulet permanent protection.
Highly praised also is eating a kite's liver or a snake's
slough, a vulture's liver pounded with its blood and
taken in drink for thrice seven days, or the heart of
a vulture's chick worn as an amulet. But they
recommend also the vulture itself to be given in
food, and that too when it has eaten its fill from a
human corpse. Some are of opinion that a vulture's
breast should be taken in drink in a cup made of
Turkey-oak wood, or the testicles of a cock in water
and milk, after abstinence from wine for five days ;
for this purpose the testicles are preserved. There
have also been some who gave in drink twenty-one
red flies, and that too from a corpse,c but fewer to
weak patients.

337

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

93 XXVIII. Morbo regio resistunt sordes aurium aut
mammarum peeudis denarii pondere cum murrae
momento et vini cyathis duobus, canini capitis cinis
in mulso, multipeda in vini hemina, vermes terreni
in aceto mulso cum murra, gallina, si sit luteis pedi-
bus, prius aqua purificatis, dein collutis vino quod

94 bibatur, cerebrum perdicis aut aquilae in vini cyathis
tribus, cinis plumarum aut interaneorum palumbis in
mulso ad coclearia tria, passerum cinis sarcnentis
crematorum coclearibus duobus in aqua mulsa.
avis icterus vocatur a colore, quae si spectetur, sanari
id malum tradunt et avem mori. hanc puto Latine
vocari galgulum.

95 XXIX. Phreneticis prodesse videtur pulmo pecu-
dum calidus circa caput alligatus. nam muris cere-
brum dare potui ex aqua aut cinerem mustelae vel
etiam inveteratas carnes irenacei quis possit furenti,
etiamsi certa sit medieina ? bubonis quidem ocu-
lorum cinerem inter ea quibus prodigiose vitam ludi-
ficantur acceperim, praecipueque febrium medicina

96 placitis eorum renuntiat. namque et in duodecim
signa digessere eam sole transmeanteiterumqueluna,
quod totum abdicandum paucis exemplis docebo,
siquidem crematis tritisque cum oleo perungui
iubent aegros, cum geminos transit sol, cristis et

a The golden oriole.

338

BOOK XXX. xxviii. 93-xxix. 96

XXVIII. Jaundice is combated by dirt from the Curesfor
ears or teats of a sheep, the dose being a denarius iaundlce-
bv weight with a morsel of myrrh and two cyathi of
wine, by the ash of a dog's head in honey wine, by a
millepede in a hemina of wine, by earthworms in
oxymel with myrrh, by drinking wine that has
rinsed a hen's feet — they must be yellow — after they
have been cleansed with water, by the brain of a
partridge or eagle taken in three cyathi of wine, by

the ash of the feathers or intestines of a wood-
pigeon taken in honey wine up to three spoonfuls, or
by the ash of sparrows burnt over twigs taken in two
spoonfuls of hydromel. There is a bird called
" jaundice " from its colour. If one with jaundice
looks at it, he is cured, we are told, of that complaint
and the bird dies. I think that this bird is the one
called in Latin " galgulus." a

XXIX. For brain-fever appears to be beneficial a PhrenUis,
sheep's lung wrapped warm round the patient's head. e\C[^gical
But who could give to one delirious the brain of a ™Tes-
mouse to be taken in water, or the ash of a weasel,

or even the dried flesh of a hedgehog, even if the
treatment were bound to be successful ? As for the
eyes of the horned owl reduced to ash, I should be
inclined to count this remedy as one of the frauds
with which rnagicians mock mankind, and it is
especially in fevers that true medicine is opposed to
the doctrines of these quacks. For they have
actually divided the art according to the passing of
the sun, and also that of the moon, through the
twelve signs of the Zodiac. That the whole theory
should be rejected I will show by a few examples. If
the sun is passing through Gemini, they recommend
the sick to be rubbed with the combs, ears, and

339

PLINV: NATURAL HISTORY

auribus et unguibus gallinaceorum, si luna, radiis

97 barbisque eorum ; si virginem alteruter, hordei
granis, si sagittarium, vespertilionis alis, si leonem
luna. tamaricis fronde, et adiciunt sativae, si aquar-
ium, e buxo carbonibus tritis. ex istis confessa aut
certe verisimilia ponemus, sicuti lethargum olfac-
toriis excitari et inter ea fortassis mustelae testiculis
inveteratis x aut iocinere usto. his quoque pulmonem
pecudis calidum circa caput adalligari putant utile.

98 XXX. In quartanis medicina clinice propemodum
nihil pollet. quamobrem plura eorum 2 remedia
ponemus primumque ea quae adalligari iubent :
pulverem in quo se accipiter volutaverit lino rutilo in
linteolo, canis nigri dentem longissimum. pseudo-
sphecem vocant vespam quae singularis volitat, hanc
sinistra manu adprehensam subnectunt, alii vero
quam quis eo anno viderit primam, viperae caput
abscissum in linteolo vel cor viventi exemptum.

99 muris rostellum auriculasque summas russeo panno
ipsumque dimittunt, lacertae vivae dextrum oculum
effossum, muscam capite suo deciso in pellicula
caprina, scarabaeum qui pilulas volvit. propter
hunc Aegypti magna pars scarabaeos inter numina
colit, curiosa Apionis interpretatione, qua colligat
Solis operum similitudinem huic animali esse, ad

1 inveteratis vulg., Mayhoff : inveteratum codd., Deilefsen.

2 eorumj Magorum coni. Warmington.

" See List of Diseases.

' Literally : " bed-side medicine."

' " Bastard wasp."

340

BOOK XXX. xxix. 96-xxx. 99

claws of cocks, burnt and pounded with oil ; if it is
the moon, the cocks' spurs and wattles must be used.
If either sun or moon is passing through Virgo,
grains of barley must be used ; if through Sagit-
tarius, a bat's wings ; if the moon is passing through
Leo, leaves of tamarisk, and they add that it must
be the cultivated shrub ; if through Aquarius, box-
wood charcoal, pounded. Of these remedies I shall
include onlv those recognised, or at least thought
probable : for example, to rouse the victims of
lethargus a by pungent smells, among which perhaps
I would put the dried testicles of a weasel or the
fumes of his burnt liver. For these patients also
they consider it useful to wrap round the head the
warm lung of a sheep.

XXX. In quartans ordinarv medicines b are Quartans.
practicallv useless ; for which reason I shall include
several of the magicians' remedies, and in the first
place the amulets they recommend : the dust in
which a hawk has rolled himself tied in a linen cloth
by a red thread, or the longest tooth of a black dog.
The wasp they call pseudosphex,6 that flies about by
itself, they catch with the left hand and hang under
the chin, and others use the first wasp seen in that
year; a severed viper's head attached in a linen
cloth, or the heart taken from the creature while
still alive ; the snout and ear tips of a mouse, wrapped
in red cloth, the mouse itself being allowed to go
free ; the right eye gouged out of a living lizard ; a
fly in a bit of goat skin, v.ith its head cut off; or the
beetle that rolls little pellets. Because of this beetle
the greater part of Egypt worships the beetle as one
of its deities. Apion gives an erudite explanation :
he infers that this creature resembles the sun and

34i

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

100 excusandos gentis suae ritus. sed et alios adalli-
gant Magi : cui sunt cornicula reflexa, sinistra manu
collectum ; tertium, qui vocatur fullo, albis guttis,
dissectum utrique lacerto adalligant, cetera sinistro ;
cor anguium sinistra manu exemptum viventibus,
scorpionis caudae quattuor articulos cum aculeo,
panno nigro, ita ut nec scorpionem dimissum nec eum
qui adalligaverit videat aeger triduo, post tertium

101 circuitum id condat. erucam in linteolo ter lino cir-
cumdant totidem nodis ad singulos dicente quare
faciat qui medebitur, limacem in pellicula vel quat-
tuor limacum capita praecisa harundine, multi-
pedam lana involutam, vermiculos ex quibus tabani
fiunt, antequam pennas germinent, alios e spinosis
frutectis lanuginosos. quidam ex illis quaternos

102 inclusos iuglandis nucis putamine adalligant. cocleas
quae nudae inveniuntur, stelionem inclusum x cap-
sulis subiciunt capiti et sub decessu febris emittunt.
devorari autem iubent cor mergi marini sine ferro
exemptum inveteratumque conteri et in calida aqua
bibi, hirundinum corda cum melle, alii fimum
drachma una in lactis caprini vel ovilli vel passo
cyathis tribus ante accessiones, sunt qui totas cen-

103 seant devorandas. aspidis cutem pondere sexta

1 inclusum d(?) vulg. : inclusos Detlefsen : cum incluserunt
Mayhojf : incluserant VRE.

a " The fuller."

b The plural capsulis because two kinds of amulet are
referred to.

342

BOOK XXX. xxx. 99-103

its revolutions, seeking to find an excuse for the
religious customs of his race. But the Magi also
make amulets of other beetles. There is one with
bent-back little horns, which they take up in the left
hand; a third kind, called fidlo,a with white spots,
they cut in two and wear as an amulet on either
upper arm ; all the rest are worn on the left arm ;
the heart, taken out with the left hand from a living
snake ; four joints of a scorpion's tail, with the sting,
wrapped in black cloth, care being taken that the
sick man does not see, for three days, either the
scorpion when set free or him who attaches the
amulet; after the third paroxysm he must hide it
away. They tie a thread three times round a cater-
pillar in a linen cloth, and with three knots, the
ministering attendant saying at each knot the reason
for so doing. Other amulets are : a slug in a piece
of skin, or four slugs' heads cut off with a reed, a
multipede wrapped up in wool, the grubs from
which gad-flies are born, before they develop wings,
or other hairy grubs found on thorny bushes. Some
shut up four of these grubs in a walnut shell and
attach as an amulet. Snails that are found without
shells, or a spotted lizard shut up in a little box,6
they place under the patient's head and let out when
the fever goes down. They also recommend the
heart of a sea-diver, cut out without iron, dried and
pounded, to be taken in warm water, or the hearts of
swallows with honey ; others swallows' dung in doses
of one drachma in three cyathi of goat's or sheep's
milk or in raisin wine, to be taken before the
paroxysms. Sorne hold that the entire swallow
should be taken. An asp's skin, in doses of one
sixth of a denarius by weight with an equal quantity

343

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

parte denarii cum piperis pari modo Parthorum
gentes in remedium quartanae bibunt. Chrysippus
philosophus tradidit phryganion adalligatum remedio
esse quartanis. quod esset animal neque ille descrip-
sit nec nos invenimus qui novisset. demonstrandum
tamen fuit a tam gravi auctore dictum, si cuius cura
10-4 efficacior esset inquirendi. cornicis carnes esse et
nidum x inlinere in longis morbis utilissimum putant.
et in tertianis fiat potestas experiendi, quoniam
miserias copia spei delectat, anne aranei, quem lycon
vocant, tela cum ipso in spleniolo resinae ceraeque
inposita utrisque temporibus et fronti prosit, aut ipse
calamo adalligatus, qualiter et aliis febribus prodesse
traditur, item lacerta viridis adalligata viva in eo vase
quod capiat, quo genere et recidivas frequenter abigi
adfirmant.

105 XXXI. Hydropicis oesypum ex vino addita murra
modice potui datur, nucis abellanae magnitudine.
aliqui addunt et anserinum adipem ex vino myrteo.
sordes ab uberibus ovium eundem effectum habent,
item carnes inveteratae irenacei sumptae. vomitus
quoque canum inlitus ventri aquam trahere pro-
mittitur.

106 XXXII. Igni sacro medetur oesypum cum pom-
pholyge et rosaceo, ricini sanguis, vermes terreni
ex aceto inliti, grillus contritus in manibus — quo
genere praestat ut qui id fecerit, antequam incipiat

1 nidum] conl. fimum Warmington.

" ( hrvsippus of Soli was the thinl hoad of the .Stoie school.
b With Warmington's emendation: " dung."

344

BOOK XXX. xxx. [03-xxxii. 106

of pepper, is taken by Parthian tribes as a cure for
a quartan. Chrysippus a the philosopher has told us
that wearing a phryganion as an amulet is a cure for
quartans : but what the animal is Chrysippus has
left no account, and I have met nobody who knew.
Yet a statement made by so great an authority it
was necessary to mention, in case somebodys
research should meet with better success. To eat
the flesh of a crow or to apply its nest b as a friction
thev think very beneficial in chronic diseases. In
tertians too it may be worth while to try whether
there is any benefit (so much does suffering delight
in hoping against hope) in the spider called lycos
(wolf) applied with its web in a small plaster of resin
and the wax to both temples and to the forehead, or in
the spider itself attached as an amulet in a reed, in
which form it is also said to be beneficial for other
fevers. A green lizard too may be tried, attached
alive, in a vessel just large enough to contain it ; by
which method we are assured that recurrent fevers
also are often banished.

XXXI. For dropsv is given in drink wool grease in Dropsy.
wine mixed with a little myrrh, in doses the size of a
hazel nut. Some also add goose grease in myrtle
wine. The dirt from the udders of sheep has the
same effect, as has the dried flesh of a hedgehog
taken by the mouth. An application too of dogs'
vomit to the abdomen brings away, we are assured,

the dropsical fluid.

XXXII. Erysipelas is benefited by wool grease Erysipeias.
with pompholyx and rose oil, by the blood of a tick,

by earth-worms applied in vinegar, by a cricket
crushed between the hands — he who succeeds in
doing this before the complaint shows itself is pro-

345

PLINV: NATURAL HISTORY

vitium, j toto eo anno accidat ; j x oportet autem
eum ferro cum terra cavernae suae tolli — anseris
adeps, viperae caput aridum adservatum et com-
bustum, dein ex aceto inpositum, senectus serpen-
tium ex aqua inlita a balneo cum bitumine et sebo
agnino.

107 XXXIII. Carbunculus fimo columbino aboletur
per se inlito vel cum lini sernine ex aceto mulso,
item apibus quae in melle sint mortuae inpositis
polentaque inspersa.2 si in verendis sit ceterisque
ibi ulceribus occurrit ex melle oesypum cum plumbi
squamis, item fimum pecudum incipientibus car-
bunculis. tubera et quaecumque molliri opus sit
efficacissime anserino adipe curantur, idem praestat
et gruum adeps.

108 XXXIV. Furunculis mederi dicitur araneus prius-
quam nominetur 3 inpositus et tertio die solutus,
mus araneus pendens enecatus sic ut terram ne
postea attingat, ter circumlatus furunculo, totiens
expuentibus medente et cui is medebitur, ex gallin-
aceo fimo quod cst rufum maxime recens inlitum ex
aceto, ventriculus ciconiae ex vino decoctus, muscae
inpari numero infricatae digito medico, sordes ex
pecudum auriculis, sebum ovium vetus cum cinere

1 toto eo anno accidat] obelos ego addo : toto eo anno non
accipiat Detlefsen : toto ei anno non aceidat Mayhoff, qui ne
pro ut anle qui coni.

2 inspersa Detlefsen : inposita insuper Mayhojf : inposita
inspersa codd. (si add. E).

3 nominetur codd., Mayhoff : stamen netur Dethfsen.

a With the MSS. reading accidat there is required a dative,
but Mayhoff 's ei is strangely placed, while Detlefsen's accipiat
is not ver}r attractive. Mayhoffs ne for ut would obviate the
addition ofnon. Waxmington translates: " in this connection
it guarantees tliat he who Bucceeds in doing this. . . ."

346

BOOK XXX. xxxii. 106-xxxiv. 108

tected from an attack for the whole of that year,a but
the cricket must be lifted with iron aloiiir with the
earth of its hole — by goose grease, by the head of a
viper, kept till dry, burnt, and then applied in
vinegar, by a serpent's slough applied in water with
bitumen and lamb suet after a bath.

XXXIII. A carbuncle is removed by pigeon's carbuncies.
dung, applied by itself or with linseed in oxymel, also

by bees that have died in honey, applied and
sprinkled with pearl barley. If a carbuncle or other
sore is on the privates, the remedy is wool grease
with lead scales b in honey, and sheep dung for
incipient carbuncles. Hard swellings and whatever
needs to be softened are treated very efficaciously
with goose grease, and equally good results are also
given by the grease of cranes.

XXXIV. Boils are said to be cured by a spider, BoUs.
applied before its name has been mentioned c and
taken off on the third day, by a shrew mouse, killed
and hung up so that it does not touch earth after
death, and passed three times round the boil, both
the attendant and the patient spitting the same
number of times, by the red part of poultry dung,
best applied fresh in vinegar, by a storlts crop boiled
down in wine, by an odd number of flies rubbed on
with the medical finger d by dirt from the ears of
sheep, by stale mutton * suet with the ash of woman's

b Some oxide of lead.

c With Detlefsen's emendation : " before its web is spun.''
This is a clever conjecture, but we should expect the sub-
junctive, while " naming " is not unusual in magical remedies.

d The finger next the little finger.

e Perhaps here " suet of ewes," because of peeudum
preceding. See § 123.

347

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

capilli mulierum, sebum arietis cum cinere pumicis
et salis pari pondere.

109 XXXV. Ambustis canini capitis cinis medetur,
item glirium cum oleo, fimum ovium cum cera,
murium cinis, coclearum quoque sic ut ne cicatrix
quidem appareat, adips viperinus, fimi columbini

HOcinis ex oleo inlitus, XXXYI. nervorum nodis
capitis viperini cinis in oleo cyprino, terreni vermes
cum melle inliti. dolores eorum <(sedat . . .y1
adips, amphisbaena mortua adalligata, adips vultur-
inus cum ventre arefactus tritusque cum adipe
suillo inveterato, cinis e capite bubonis in mulso
potus cum lilii radice, si Magis credimus. in con-
tractione nervorum caro palumbina in cibis prodest
[et] 2 inveterata, irenacei spasticis, item mustelae
cinis — serpentium senectus in pelle taurina adalligata
spasmos fieri prohibet — opisthotonicis milvi iocur
aridum tribus obolis in aquae nmlsae cyathis tribus
potum.

111 XXXVII. Reduvias et quae in digitis nascuntur
ptervgia tollunt canini capitis cinis aut vulva decocta
in oleo, superinlito butyro ovillo cum melle, item
folliculus cuiuslibet animalium fellis, unguium sca-
britiam cantharides cum pice tertio die solutae aut
locustae frictae cum sebo hircino, pecudum sebum.

1 sedat . . . add. Mayhoff.
"■ et delere velim.

u Here the name of an animal must be supplied.
6 If et is kept it must, 1 think, mean " even." But it seems
to be a duplication from -est.

348

BOOK XXX. xxxiv. 108-xxxvn. iii

hair, and by ram's suet with ash of burnt pumice and
an equal quantity of salt.

XXXV. Burns are treated with ash of a dogs head, Bum<>.
the ash of dormice and oil, sheep dung and wax, the
the ash of mice ; with the ash of snails so well that not
even a scar is to be seen, with viper fat, and with the
ash of pigeon's dung applied in oil. XXXVI. Hard
lumps in the sinews are treated with the ash of a
viper's head in cyprus oil, and by an application of
earth-worms and honey. Pains in the sinews <fare
soothed by . . .) a fat, by a dead amphisbaena
attached as an amulet, by vulture's fat with its crop,
dried and pounded with stale pig's fat, by the ash of
a horned-owl's head taken in honey wine with the
root of a lily, if we believe the Magi. For cramp in
the sinews wood-pigeon's flesh dried and b taken in
the food, for cramping spasms hedgehog's flesh, also
the ash of a weasel — a serpent's slough attached as
an amulet in a piece of bull's leather prevents such
spasms c — for opisthotonic tetanus the dried liver of
a kite, the dose being three oboli taken in three
cyathi of hydromel.

XXXVII. Hangnails and whitlows that form on HangnaUs.
the fingers d are removed by the ash of a dog's head,
or by the uterus boiled down in oil, with a layer on
top of butter from ewe's milk with honey, as also by
the gall bladder of any animal : roughness of the
nails by cantharides and pitch, taken ofT on the third
day, or by locusts fried with he-goat suet, and by
mutton suet. Some mix with the ingredients

c Detlefsen's parenthesis seems the best way of treating
this clumsy sentence.

d This clause is added because pterygium may mean an eye
affection. See List of Diseases.

349

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

aliqui miscent viscum et porcillacam, alii aeris florem
et viscum ita ut tertio die solvant.

112 XXXVIII. Sanguinem sistit in naribus sebum ex
omento pecudum inditum, item coagulum ex aqua,
maxime agninum subductum vel infusum, etiam si
alia non prosint, adips anserinus cum butyro pari
pondere pastillis ingestus, coclearum terrena, sed et
ipsae extractae testis ; e naribus fluentem cocleae
contritae fronti inlitae, aranei telae, gallinacei cere-
bellum vel sanguis profluvia ex cerebro, item colum-
binus ob id servatus concretusque. si vero ex vul-
nere inmodice fluat, fimi caballini cum putaminibus
ovorum cremati cinis inpositus mire sistit.

113 XXXIX. Ulceribus medetur oesypum cum hordei
cinere et aerugine aequis partibus, ad carcinomata
quoque ac serpentia valet. erodit et ulcerum
margines, carnesque exscrescentes ad aequalitatem
redigit. explet quoque et ad cicatricem perducit.
magna vis et in cinere pecudum fimi ad carcinomata,
addito nitro, aut in cinere ex ossibus feminum agnin-
orum, praecipue in his ulceribus quae cicatricem non
trahunt, magna et pulmonibus, praecipue arietum :
carnes excrescentes in ulceribus ad aequalitatem

1 14 eflicacissime reducunt ; fimo quoque ipso ovium sub
testo calefacto et subacto tumor vulnerum sedatur,
fistulae purgantur sananturque, item epinyctides.
summa vero in canini capitis cinere : excrescentia

a Red oxide of copper.

6 If there is any difference between in naribus here and
ex naribus a few lines further on (this repetition may be care-
lessness), the second will denote a morc violent flow of blood.

c I.e. from the skull.

d Night rashes. Sec List of Diseases.

350

BOOK XXX. xxxvii. iii -xxxix. 114

mistletoe and pnrslane, others flowers of copper a and
mistletoe, but remove the application on the third
day.

XXXVIII. Bleeding in the nostrils b is arrested by Epistazi
inserting suet from the cawl of a sheep, also by its
rennet in water, especially by lamb's rennet, snufFed

up or injected, even if other remedies do no good, by
goose grease with an equal quantity of butter worked
up into lozenges, by the earth off snails, but also by
the actual snails themselves, taken from their shells :
but when there is severe epistaxis it is stayed by
snails beaten up and applied to the forehead, and
also by spider's web ; by the brain or blood of a cock
are arrested fluxes from the brain,c also by pigeon's
blood; it is stored and congealed for this purpose.
If however there is violent haemorrhage from a
wound, it is wonderfully arrested by an application
of the ash of horse-dung burnt with egg shells.

XXXIX. Ulcers are healed by wool grease, barley uieers.
ash, and copper rust, in equal parts ; this is also
equally efficacious for carcinomata and spreading
sores. It cauterizes too the edges of ulcers, and
levels out excrescences in the flesh ; it also fills up
hollows and forms scars. There is also great power

to heal carcinomata in the ash of sheep's dung with
soda added, or in the ash of a lamb's thigh bones,
especially when ulcers refuse to cicatrize. There is
great power too in the lungs, especially those of
rams, which flatten out very efficaciously excres-
cences of flesh on ulcers ; ewe dung too by itself,
warmed under an earthen jar and kneaded, reduces
swollen wounds, and cleans and heals fistulas and
epinyctides.^ The greatest power, however, is in
the ash of a dog's head, which cauterizes and

35*

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

omnia spodii vice erodit ac persanat. et murino
fimo eroduntur, item mustelae fimi cinere. duritias
in alto ulcerum et carcinomata persequitur multipeda
trita admixta resina terebinthina et sinopide. eadem
utilissima sunt in his ulceribus quae vermibus peri-

115 clitentur. quin et vermium ipsorum genera miran-
dos usus habent. cosses qui in ligno nascuntur sanant
ulcera omnia, nomas vero combusti cum pari pondere
anesi ex oleo inliti. vulnera recentia conglutinant
terreni adeo ut nervos quoque abscisos inlitis solidari
intra septimum diem persuasum sit ; itaque in melle
servandos censent. cinis eorum margines ulcerum
duriores absumit cum pice liquida vel symphyto et

116 melle. quidam arefactis in sole ad vulnera ex aceto
utuntur nec solvunt nisi biduo intermisso. eadem
ratione et coclearum terrena prosunt, totaeque
exemptae recentia vulnera tusae inpositae con-
glutinant et nomas sistunt. herpes quoque animal a
Graecis vocatur quo praecipue sanantur quaecumque
serpunt. cocleae quoque prosunt eis cum testis suis
tusae, cum murra quidem et ture etiam praecisos

117 nervos sanare dicuntur. draconum quoque adeps sic-
catus in sole magnopere prodest, item gallinacei cere-
brum recentibus plagis. sale viperino in cibo sumpto
tradunt et ulcera tractabiliora fieri ac celerius sanari.
Antonius quidem medicus cum incidisset insanabilia
ulcera, viperas edendas dabat miraque celeritate per-

" Sce List of Diseases.
6 Perhaps : " on the same principle."
r See List of Diseases.
rf It raeans " the creeper." Unidentified.
• The salt in which vipers were preserved. Has sale arisen
from sole above ?

352

BOOK XXX. xxxix. 114-117

thoroughly heals all excrescences as well as does
spodiuni. These are cauterized too by mouse
dung, and also by the ash of weasel's dung. In-
durations in deep-seated ulcers and carcinomata
are penetrated by multipedes pounded and mixed
with terebinth resin and earth of Sinope. The
same remedies are very useful for those ulcers that
are threatened by worms. Moreover, the various
kinds of worms themselves have wonderful uses.
The larvae that breed in wood heal all ulcers ; and
nomae ° too if burnt with an equal weight of anise
and applied in oil. Fresh wounds are united so well
by earth worms that there is a general conviction
that even severed sinews are by applying them made
whole by the seventh day ; accordingly it is thought
that they should be preserved in honey. Their ash
with liquid pitch or symphytum and honey removes
too-hard edges of ulcers. Some dry them in the sun,
use in vinegar to treat wounds, and do not take them
off without an interval of two days. Used in the
same way b the earth too off snails is beneficial, and
snails taken out whole, beaten up, and applied,
unite fresh wounds and arrest nomae.c There is also
an insect called by the Greeks kerpes,d which is
specific for all creeping ulcers. Snails also are good
for them, beaten up with their shells ; with myrrh
indeed and frankincense they are said to heal even
severed sinews. The fat of a python also, dried in
the sun, is of great benefit, as is a cock's brain for
fresh wounds. By viper's salt e taken in food we are
told that ulcers become more amenable to treatment
and heal more rapidly. Indeed the physician
Antonius after operating on ulcers without success
gave vipers as food to bring about complete cures

353

VOL. VIII. N

PLINY. XATURAL HISTORY

sanabat. trixallidum cinis margines ulcerum duros
aufert cum melle, item fimi columbini cinis cum
arrhenico et melle ; eadem x quae erodenda sunt.

118 bubonis cerebrum cum adipe anserino mire vulnera 2
dicitur glutinare, quae vero vocantur cacoethe cinis
feminum arietis cum lacte muliebri, diligenter prius
elutis linteolis, ulula avis cocta in oleo, cui liquato
miscetur butvrum ovillum et mel. ulcerum labra
duriora apes in melle mortuae emolliunt, et elephan-
tiasin sanguis et cinis mustelae. verberum vulnera
atque vibices pellibus ovium recentibus inpositis
obliterantur.

1 19 XL. Articulorum fracturis cinis feminum pecudis
peculiariter medetur cum cera — efficacius idem medi-
camentum fit maxillis simul ustis cornuque cervino
et cera mollita rosaceo — ossibus fractis caninum
cerebrum linteolo inlito, superpositis lanis quae
subinde 3 subfundantur, fere XI III diebus solidat,
nec tardius cinis silvestris muris cum melle aut
vermium terrenorum, qui et ossa extrahit.

120 XLI. Cicatrices ad colorem reducit pecudum
pulmo, praecipue ex ariete, sebum ex nitro, lacertae
viridis cinis, vernatio anguium ex vino decocta,

1 eadem quae erodenda sunt codd. : ea quae erodenda
sunt vulg., Detlefsen : eademque erodentia sunt Mayhojf.

2 vulnera codd. et edd. : ulcera coni. Mayhoff.

3 Inter subinde et subfundantur add. oleo Mayhoff: subinde
oleo fundantur coni. Warmington.

354

BOOK XXX. xxxix. 117-xLi. r^o

with wonderful rapiditv. Tlie ash of the trixallis a
with honey removes hard edges on ulcers, as does
ash of pigeon's dung with arsenic and honey ; these
also remove all that needs a cautery.6 The brain of
a horned owl with goose grease is said to unite
wounds wonderfully, as, with woman's milk, does the
ash of a ram's thighs the ulcers called malignant, but
the cloths must be first carefully washed, or the
screech owl boiled in oil, with which when melted
down are mixed ewe butter and honey, The lips of
ulcers that are too hard are softened by bees that
have died in honey, and elephantiasis by the blood
and ash of a weasel. Wounds and weals made by
the scourge are removed by an application of fresh
sheep-skin.

XL. For fractures of the joints a specific is the Fractures.
ash of a sheep's thighs with wax — this medicament
is more efficacious if there are burnt with the thighs
the sheep's jawbones and a deer's horn, and the wax
is softened with rose oil — specific for broken bones
is a dog's brain, spread on a linen cloth, over which
is placed wool, occasionally moistened underneath
(with oil). In about fourteen days it unites the
broken parts, as does quite as quickly the ash of a
field-mouse with honey, or that of earth-worms,
which also extracts fragments of bone.

XLI. Scars are restored to the natural colour by scarsand
the lungs of sheep, particularly of rams, by their suet skin dUeases'
in soda, by the ash of a green lizard, by a snake's
slough boiled down in wine, and by pigeon's dung

a See § 49. Antonius is perhaps Antonius Castor (XXV.
§9).

6 The reading of the MSS. can be just conatrued, with
eadem subject, and ea aujerunt understood.

355

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

finuim columbinum cum mellc, item l vitiligines albas
ex vino, vitiliginem et cantharides cum rutae folio-
rum duabus partibus. in sole, donec fonnicet cutis,
tolerandae sunt, postea fovere oleoque perunguere
necessarium iterumque inlinire, idque pluribus diebus

121 facere, caventes exulcerationem altam. ad easdem
vitiligines et muscas inlini iubent cum radice eupa-
toriae,2 gallinarum fimi candidum servatum in oleo
vetere cornea pyxide, vespertilionis sanguinem, fel
irenacei ex aqua. scabiem vero bubonis cerebrum
cum aphronitro, sed ante omnia sanguis caninus
sedant, pruritum cocleae minutae latae contritae
inlitae.

122 XLII. Harundines et tela quaeque alia extra-
henda sunt corpori evocat mus dissectus inpositus,
praecipue vero lacerta dissecta, et vel caput tantum
eius contusum cum sale inpositum, cocleae ex his
quae gregatim folia sectantur contusae inpositaeque
cum testis et eae quae manduntur exemptae testis,
sed cum leporis coagulo efficacissime ossa anguium.
eadem cum coagulo cuiuscumque quadripedis intra
tertium diem adprobant effectum. laudantur et
cantharides tritae cum farina hordei.

123 XLIII. In muliebribus malis membranae a partu
ovium proficiunt, sicut in capris rettulimus. fimum
quoque pecudum eosdem usus habet. locustarum

1 item codd. et edd. : idem coni. Mayhoff.

2 eupatoriae Sillig coll. XXV. § 65 : lupatoria codd.

a There were distinguished by the Romans three kinds of
vitiligo (psoriasis) : the dull white, the dark, and the bright
white.

6 The word easdem seems to include both the vitiligines
albas and the vitiliginem of § 120.

c Perhaps : " bits of reed."

356

BOOK XXX. xll 120-XLI11. 123

with honey ; the last in wine does the same for both
kinds ° of white vitiligo; for vitiligo cantharides
also with two parts of rue leaves. These must
be kept on in the sun until the skin is violently
irritated ; then there must be fomentation and
rubbing with oil, followed by another application.
This treatment should be repeated for several days,
but deep ulceration must be guarded against. For
vitiligo of all kinds b they also recommend the
application of flies with root of eupatoria, or the
white part of hens' dung kept in old oil in a horn box,
or bat's blood, or hedgehog's gall in water. Itch scab
however is relieved by the brain of a horned owl with
saltpetre, but best of all by dog's blood, and pruritus
by the small, broad, kind of snail, crushed and
applied.

XLII. Arrows,c weapons, and everything that TMngs
must be extracted from the flesh, are withdrawn by 7nfiesh.
a mouse split and laid on the wound, but especially
by a split lizard, or even its head only, crushed and
laid on the wound with salt, by the snails that attack
leaves in clusters, crushed and similarly laid on with
the shells, and edible snails without them, but most
efficaciouslv by the bones of snakes with hare's
rennet. These bones also, with the rennet of any
quadruped, show a good result by the third day.
Cantharides too are highly recommended, beaten
up and applied with barley meal.

XLIII. For women's complaints the afterbirth of Femaie

r. . t • -1 i i • r complaints.

an ewe is ot service, as 1 said when speaking ot
goats.d The dung too of sheep e has the same

d See XXVIII. § 256.

e The word ovis appears to be used when the sex must be
female, and pecus when the sex of the sheep does not matter.

357

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

suffitu stranguriae maxume mulierum iuvantur.
gallinaceorum testes si subinde a conceptu edat
mulier, mares in utero fieri dicuntur. partus con-
ceptos hystricum cinis potus continet, maturat
caninum lacte potum, evocat membrana e secundis
canum, si terram non attigerit, lumbis parturientium

124 tactis.1 fimum murinum aqua pluvia dilutum mammas
mulierum a partu tumentes reficit. cinis irenace-
orum cum oleo perunctarum custodit partus contra
abortus. facilius enituntur quae . . .2 anserinum
cum aquae duobus cyathis sorbuere, aut ex ventriculo

125 mustelino per genitale effluentes aquas. vermes
terreni inliti ne cervicis scapularumque nervi doleant
praestant. graves secundas pellunt in passo poti.
idem per se inpositi mammarum suppurationes con-
cocunt et aperiunt extrahuntque et ad cicatricem
perducunt. lac evocant poti cum mulso. inveniun-
tur et in gramine vermiculi qui adalligati collo
continent partum, detrahuntur autem sub partu,
alias eniti non patiuntur. cavendum et ne in terra
ponantur. conceptus quoque causa dantur in potu

126 quini aut septeni. cocleae in cibo sumptae ad-
celerant partum, item conceptum inpositae cum
croco. eaedem ex amylo et tragacantha inlitae pro-
rluvia sistunt. prosunt et purgationibus sumptae in
cibo et vulvam aversam corrigunt cum medulla
cervina ita ut uni cocleae denarii pondus addatur et

1 tactis Detlefsen, Mayhoff : lactis aut potus lactis codd.
- lacunam indicat Mayhoff : cum VRE : adipein d T:
dcl. Detlefsen ; serum Brahnan.

The serum (i.e. semen) of Brakman may be right.
Soe Index of Plants u\ vol. VII.

358

BOOK XXX. xliii. 123-126

medicinal uses. Fumigation with lobsters is of the
greatest help in strangury in women. If occasionally
after conception a woman eats the testicles of a cock,
males are said to be formed in the uterus. The
foetus is retained by taking in drink the ash of
porcupines, brought to maturity by drinking bitch's
milk, and withdrawn by the afterbirth of a bitch,
which must not touch the earth, laid on the loins of
the Avoman in childbed. Mouse dung diluted with
rain water reduces the breasts of women swollen after
childbirth. Rubbing the woman all over with the
ash of hedgehogs and oil prevents miscarriage. The
delivery of those is easier who have swallowed goose
. . . a with two cyathi of water, or the liquids that
flow from a weasel's uterus through its genitals.
Applying earth-worms prevents pains in the sinews
of neck and shoulders, and taken in raisin wine bring
away a sluggish afterbirth. These worms laid by
themselves on the breasts also mature suppurations
there, open them, draw out the pus, and make them
cicatrize. Taken with honey wine they stimulate
the flow of milk. There are also little worms found
in grass; these, tied round the neck as an amulet,
prevent a miscarriage, but they are taken off just
before the birth, otherwise they prevent delivery.
Care too must be taken not to lay them on the earth.
Further, to cause conception five or seven at a time
are given in drink. Snails taken in food hasten
delivery, and conception too if applied with saffron.
An application of snails in starch and tragacanth b
arrests fluxes. They are also good for menstruation
if taken in food, and correct with deer's marrow dis-
placements of the uterus ; to one snail should be
added a denarius by weight of marrow and cyprus oil.

359

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

cvpri. inflationes quoque vulvarum discutiunt ex-
emptae testis tritae cum rosaceo. ad haec Asty-

127 palaeicae maxime eliguntur. alio modo Africanae
binae tritae cum feni Graeci quod tribus digitis
capiatur, addito melle coclearibus quattuor, inlin-
untur alvo prius irino suco perunctae. sunt et
minutae loricaeque * candidae cocleae passim ober-
rantes. hae arefactae sole in tegulis tusaeque in
farinam miscentur lomento aequis partibus can-
doremque et levorem corpori adferunt. scabendi
desideria tollunt minutae et latae cum polenta.

128 viperam mulier praegnans si transcenderit, abortum
faciet, item amphisbaenam, mortuam dumtaxat,
t nam vivam habentes in pyxide inpune transeunt ;
etiam si mortua sit atque adservata, partus faciles
praestat ; vel mortua mirum, si sine adservata
transcenderit gravida, innoxium fieri, si protinus
transcendat adservatam.f 2 anguis inveterati suffitu
menstrua adiuvant.

129 XLIV. Anguium senectus adalligata lumbis faci-
liores partus facit, protinus a puerperio removenda.
dant et in vino bibendam cum ture, aliter sumpta
abortum facit. baculum quo angui rana excussa sit
parturientes adiuvat, trixallidum cinis inlitus cum
melle purgationes, item araneus qui filum deducit ex

1 loricaeque VRdT : longaeque E vulg. Detlefsen : loricatae-
qiie coni. Warmington.

2 Sir codd. : in pro vel Mayhoff. Obelos ego addo loco, ut
videtur, desperato.

a The text and its explanation are so conjectural that J
prefer to print the reading of the MSS. within daggers. I

360

BOOK XXX. xliii. 126-XLiv. 129

Inflation too of the uterus is dispersed by snails taken
out of their shells and beaten up with rose oil. For
these purposes the most preferred are snails of
Astypalaea. African snails are prepared in a
different way ; doses of two are beaten up with a
three-finger pinch of fenugreek, four spoonfuls of
honey added, and the whole applied after rubbing
the abdomen with iris juice. There are also found
straying everywhere small snails with a white
corslet. Dried in the sun on tiles, crushed to
powder, and mixed with an equal quantity of bean
meal, these impart both whiteness and smoothness to
the skin. The desire to scratch is removed by the
small, broad snails with pearl barley. If a woman
with child step across a viper she will miscarry ;
similarly if she cross an amphisbaena, a dead one at
least, fbut those that carry on their persons a live one
in a box step across with impunity ; even if it is a dead
one and preserved it makes childbirth easy. In the
case of a dead one, wonderful to relate, no harm is done
should a pregnant woman cross it without a preserved
one, if she at once crosses a preserved onef.° Fumiga-
tion with a dried snake assists menstruation.

XLIV. A snake's slough, tied to the loins as an
amulet, makes childbirth easier, but it must be taken
off immediately after delivery. They also give it in
wine to be taken with frankincense ; in any other
way it causes miscarriage. A stick with Avhich a
frog has been shaken from a snake helps lying-in
women, and the ash of the trixallis, applied with
honey, helps menstruation, as does a spider that is

translate as a stop-gap the text of Mayhoff. See also Ad-
ditional Xote on p. 374.

361

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

alto. capi debet manu cava tritusque admoveri,
quod si redeuntem prenderit, inhibebit idem purga-

130 tiones. lapis aetites in aquilae repertus nido custodit
partus contra omnes abortuum insidias. penna
vulturina subiecta pedibus adiuvat parturientes.
ovum corvi cavendum gravidis constat, quoniam
transgressis abortum per os faciat. fimum accipitris
in mulso potum videtur fecundas facere. vulvarum
duritias, collectiones adeps anseris aut cygni x emollit.

131 XLV. Mammas a partu custodit adeps anseris cum
rosaceo et araneo. Phryges et Lycaones mammis
puerperio vexatis invenerunt otidum adipem utilem
esse. his quae vulva strangulentur et blattas in-
linunt. ovorum perdicis putaminum cinis cadmiae
mixtus et cerae stantes mammas servat. putant et
ter circumductas ovo perdicis aut ortygis 2 non in-
clinari et, si sorbeantur eadem, fecunditatem facere,
lactis quoque copiam, cum anserino adipe perunctis
mammis dolores minuere, molas uteri rumpere,
scabiem vulvarum sedare, si cum cimice trito in-
linantur.

132 XLVI. Vespertilionum sanguis psilotri vim habet,
sed alis puerorum inlitus non satis proficit nisi aerugo
vel cicutae semen postea inducatur. sic enim aut in

1 cygni d r, vulg., Mayhoff : ciconiae E, Detlefsen.

2 ortygis Brakman : otidis Detlefsen post Urlichs : om.
codd.: lacunam Sillig et Mayhoff: anseris coni. Mayhoff,
Sereno collato.

a " The eagle stone." See XXX VI. § 149.

6 An oxide of zinc.

' With the other conjectures, " bustard " or " goose.

a For these molae see VII. § 63 and X. § 184.

362

BOOK XXX. xliv. 129 -xlvi. 132

spinning a thread from a height. It should be
caught in the hollow of the hand, crushed, and
applied; but if it is caught as it ascends again, the
same treatment will arrest menstruation. The ?tone
aetites,a found in the eagle's nest, protects a foetus
from all plots to cause abortion. A vulture's feather,
placed under their feet, helps lying-in women. It is
certain that pregnant women must avoid a raven's
egg, since if they step over it they will miscarry
through the mouth. A hawk's dung taken in honey
wine seems to make women fertile. Indurations and
abscesses of the uterus are softened by goose grease
or by swan's grease.

XLV. The breasts after delivery are safeguarded
by goose grease with rose oil and a spider's web. The
Phrygians and Lycaonians have found that the fat of
bustards is beneficial for teats disordered by child-
birth. For uterine suffocation beetles also are
applied. Ash of partridge egg-shells mixed with
cadmia b and wax keeps the breasts firm. They also
think that breasts do not droop if circles are traced
round them three times with the egg of partridge or
quail,c and that if this egg is swallowed it also pro-
duces fertility and an abundant supply of milk as
well, that it lessens pains in the breasts if they are
rubbed with it and goose grease, that it breaks up
moles d in the uterus, and that uterine itch is relieved
if it is applied with crushed bugs/

XLVI. Bats' blood is a depilatory, but an applica- Depuatories.
tion to the armpits of boys is not enough unless
copper rust or hemlock seed is spread over it after-

e Probably cimice is a generic singular. The probable
lacuna in this chapter is perhaps larger than one word, for the
plural eadem has only the singular ovum to which to refer.

3(>i

PLIXY: NATURAL HISTORY

totum tolluntur pili aut non excedunt lanuginem.
idem et cerebro eorum profici putant — est autem
duplex, rubens t itaque t * et candidum — aliqui

133 sanguinem et iocur eiusdem admiscent. quidam in
tribus heminis olei discocunt viperam, exemptis ossi-
bus psilotri vice utuntur evolsis prius pilis quos
renasci nolunt. fel irenacei psilotrum est, utique
mixto vespertilionis cerebro et lacte caprino, item per
se cinis. lacte canis primiparae 2 evolsis pilis vel
nondum natis perunctae partes alios non sufficiunt.

134 idem evenire traditur sanguine ricini evulsi cani,
item hirundinino sanguine vel felle, ovis formicarum.
supercilia denigrari muscis tritis tradunt, si vero
oculi nigri nascentium placeant, soricem praegnanti
edendum, capilli ne canescant vermium terrenorum
cinere praestari admixto oleo.

135 XLVII. Infantibus qui lacte concreto vexantur
praesidio est agninum coagulum ex aqua potum, aut
si hoc vitium coagulato lacte acciderit, discutitur
coagulo ex aceto dato. ad dentitionem cerebrum
pecoris utilissimum est. ossibus in canino fimo in-
ventis adustio infantium quae vocatur siriasis adalli-
gatis emendatur, ramex infantium lacertae viridis
admotae dormientibus morsu. postea harundini in-
ligata 3 suspenditur 4 in fumo, traduntque pariter

136 cum expirante ea sanari infantem. coclearum saliva

1 itaque codd. : utique vulg., Detlefsen, Maylwff, qui atque
vel aliquando et coni. ; obelos addo.

2 primiparae Mayhoff, qui prius addit : primi partus Detlej-
sen : primi parae aut: -partus codd.

3 inligata Detlefsen : alligata Gelenius : adalligatae vulg. :
inligant et Mayhoff : inligate (-ti d) codd.

4 suspenditur Gelenius, Detlefsen : suspendunt Mayhoff :
suspenduntur codd.

364

BOOK XXX. xlvi. 132-xLvii. 136

wards ; this trcatment either removes the hair alto-
gether or reduces it to down. Thcy think that a bat's
brain is equally efficacious — this brain is double,
red and white a — some adding the bat's blood
and liver. Others in three heminae of oil thoroughly
boil a viper after taking out the bones, using the
decoction as a depilatory after first plucking out the
hairs they do not wish to grow again. The gall of
a hedgehog is a depilatory, especially when mixed
with a bat's brain and goat's milk, as is also the ash
by itself. Parts rubbed with the milk of a bitch with
her first litter, when the hairs have been plucked out
or not vet grown, do not grow hair again. The same
result is said to be produced by the blood of a tick
plucked from a dog, by the blood or gall of a swallow,
or by the eggs of ants. They say that eyebrows are
made black by crushed flies ; if however it is desired
that the eyes of babies should be black, the expectant
mother must eat a shrewmouse ; hair is prevented
from turning grey by the ash of earth-worms mixed
with oil.

XLYII. Babies that are troubled with curdled milk Thetroubies
have a preventative in lamb's rennet taken in water ; °/Jafr^-
or if the trouble has occurred with milk already
curdled it is dispersed bv this rennet given in vinegar.
For dentition the brain of a sheep is very beneficial.
The inflammation of babies called siriasis is cured by
the bones found in dog's dung worn as an amulet, and
hernia in babies by bringing a green lizard to bite
them when asleep. Afterwards they fasten the lizard
to a reed and hang it in smoke, and thev say that as it
dies the baby recovers. The slime of snails applied

a This addition, which I treat as a parenthesis, seems point-
less.

365

PLINY: NATURAL HISTOKY

inlita infantium oculis palpebras corrigit gignitque.
ramicosis coclearum cinis cum ture ex ovi albo suco x
inlitus per dies XXX medetur. inveniuntur in
corniculis coclearum harenaceae duritiae, hae denti-
tionem facilem praestant adalligatae. coclearum
inanium cinis cerae mixtus procidentium interan-

137 eorum partes extremas prohibet. oportet autem
cineri misceri saniem punctis emissam.2 cerebrum
viperae inligatum pellicula 3 dentitiones adiuvat.
idem valent et grandissimi dentes serpentium.
fimum corvi lana adalligatum infantium tussi
medetur. vix est serio conplecti quaedam, non
omittenda tamen, quia sunt prodita. ramici infan-
tium lacerta mederi iubent. marem hanc prendi, id
intellegi eo quod sub 4 cauda unam cavernam habeat,

138 id agendum ut per aureum vel argenteum clostrum 5
mordeat vitium, tum in calice novo inligatum 6 in
fumo poni. urina infantium cohibetur muribus
elixis in cibo datis. scarabaeorum cornua grandia
denticulata adalligata iis amuleti naturam obtinent.

139 bovae capiti lapillum inesse tradunt, quem ab ea
expui, si necem timeat, inopinantis praeciso capite
exemptum adalligatumque mire prodesse dentitioni.
item cerebrum eiusdem ad eundem usum adalligari
iubent et limacis lapillum sive ossiculum ; invenitur
in dorso. magnifice iuvat et ovis cerebrum gingivis

1 suco Detlefsen, codd. : speeillo Mayhoff.

2 emissam d, Mayhoff, qui ante addit : emissum E, Detlef-
sen, qui cum cerebrum iungit.

3 pellicula d, Mayhoff : pelliculae RE, Dellefsen.

4 eo quod sub Detlefsen, Mayhoff : varia codd.

5 aureum vel argenteum clostrum Mayhoff, qui claustrum
scribit : aurum et argentum et clostrum (closirum, dosirum)
codd.: electrum pro clostrum Warmington.

ti inligatum Detlefsen : inligatam Mayhoff : inligatur codd.

366

BOOK XXX. xlvii. 136-139

to the eyes of babies straightens the eyelashes and
makes them grow. Hernia is cured by the ash of
snails applied for thirty days with frankincense in
white of egg.a There are found in the little horns
of snails sandy grits ; worn as an amulet these make
dentition easy. The ash of snail shells mixed with
wax checks procidence of the end of the bowel, but
the ash should be mixed with the discharge that
exudes when the snails are pricked. A viper's brain
tied on with a piece'of his skin helps dentition. The
same effect have also the largest teeth of serpents.
The dung of a raven attached with wool as an
amulet cures babies' coughs. Certain details can
scarcely be included as serious items, but I must not
omit them, since they have been put on record. As
a remedy for hernia in babies thev recommend a
lizard ; there should be taken a male, which can be
recognised by its having one vent beneath the tail.
The necessary ritual is : that it must bite the lesion
through a gold or silver barrier ; then it must be
fastened in an unused cup and placed in smoke.
Incontinence of urine in babies is checked by giving
in their food boiled mice. The tall, indented horns
of the beetle, fastened to babies, serves as an
amulet. In the head of the boa is said to be a little
stone, which is spit out by it when in fear of violent
death ; they add that dentition is wonderfully aided
if the creature's head is cut off" unawares, the stone
extracted and worn as an amulet. The brain too of
the same creature they recommend to be worn for
the same purpose, or the stone or little bone found
on the back of a slug. A splendid help also is the
brain of a ewe rubbed on the gums, as for the ears is

a With Mayhoffs reading : '; applied with a probe, etc."

367

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

inlitum sicut aures adeps anserinus cum ocimi suco
inpositus. sunt vermiculi in spinosis herbis asperi,
lanuginosi, hos adalligatos protinus mederi tradunt
infantibus, si quid ex cibo haereat.

140 XLVIII. Somnos adlicit oesvpum cum murrae mo-
mento in vini cyathis duobus dilutum, vel cum adipe
anserino et vino myrtite, avis cuculus leporina pelle
adalligatus, ardiolae rostrum in pelle asinina fronti
adalligatum. putant et per se rostrum effectus
eiusdem esse vino collutum. e diverso somnum arcet
vespertilionis caput aridum adalligatum.

141 XLIX. In urina virili enecata lacerta venerem eius
qui fecerit cohibet. nam inter amatoria esse Magi
dicunt. inhibent et cocleae, nmurn columbinum cum
oleo et vino potum. pulmonis vulturini dextrae
partes venerem concitant viris adalligatae gruis pelle,
item si lutea ex ovis quinque columbarum admixto
adipis suilli denarii pondere ex melle sorbeantur,
passeres in cibo vel ova eorum, gallinacei dexter

142 testis arietina pelle adalligatus. ibium cinere cum
adipe anseris et irino perunctis, si conceptus x sit,
partus contineri, contra inhiberi venerem pugnatoris
galli testiculis anserino adipe inlitis adalligatisque
pelle arietina tradunt, item cuiuscumque galli, si
cum sanguine gallinacei lecto subiciantur. cogunt
concipere invitas saetae ex cauda mulae,2 si iunctis

143 evellantur, inter se conligatae in coitu. qui in

1 conceptus sit vulg., Detlefsen : conceptos Mayhoff : con-
ceptus codd.

2 mulae codd. : rauli et mulae coni. Mayhoff.

" If nam is " for," amatoria would have to mean " anta-
phrodisiacs."

368

BOOK XXX. xlvii. 139-xLix. 143

goose grease put in them with juice of ocimum. On
prickly plants are grubs which are rough and downy.
These worn by babies as an amulet are said to effect
an immediate recovery when part of their food sticks
in the throat.

XLVIII. Sleep is induced by wool grease with a Remedies
morsel of myrrh diluted in two cyathi of wine, or else ^ors ^'
with goose grease and myrtle wine, by the cuckoo
bird in a piece of hare's fur worn as an amulet, or bv
a heron's beak worn as an amulet on the forehead
in a piece of ass's hide. It is thought too that the
beak of the heron by itself rinsed in wine has the
same effect. Sleep is kept away, on the contrary,
by a dried bat's head worn as an amulet.

XLIX. A lizard drowned in a man's urine is anta- Aphrodi-
phrodisiac to him who passed it, but ° the Magi claim su
that it is a love-philtre. Antaphrodisiac too are
snails, and pigeon's dung taken with oil and wine.
Aphrodisiac for men are the right parts of a vul-
ture's lung, worn as an amulet in a piece of crane's
skin ; aphrodisiac also are the yolks of five pigeons'
eggs mixed with a denarius by weight of pig fat and
swallowed in honey, sparrows or their eggs in food,
or the right testicle of a cock worn as an amulet in a
piece of ram's-skin. They say that rubbing with
ibis ash, goose grease and iris oil prevent miscarriage
when there has been conception ; that desire on the
contrary is inhibited if a fighting cock's testicles are
rubbed with goose grease and worn as an amulet in
a ram's skin, as it also is if with a cock's blood any
cock's testicles are placed under the bed. Women
unwilling to conceive are forced to do so by hairs
from the tail of a she-mule, pulled out during the
animal copulation and entwined during the human.

369

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

urinam canis suam egesserit dicitur ad venerem
pigrior fieri. mirum et de stelionis cinere, si verum
est, linamento involutum in sinistra manu venerem
stimulare, si transferatur in dextram, inhibere, item
vespertilionis sanguinem collectum flocco subposi-
tumque capiti mulierum libidinem movere aut
anseris linguam in cibo vel potione sumptam.

1-44 L. Phthiriasim et totius corporis pota membrana
senectutis anguium triduo necat, serum exempto
caseo potum cum exiguo sale. caseos, si cerebrum
mustelae coagulo addatur, negant corrumpi vetustate
aut a muribus attingi. eiusdem mustelae cinis si
detur in offa gallinaceis et columbinis, tutos esse a
mustelis. iumentorum urinae tormina vespertilione
adalligato finiuntur, verminatio ter circumlato mediis
palumbe. mirum dictu, palumbis emissus moritur
iumentumque liberatur confestim.

145 LI. Ebriosis ova noctuae per triduum data in vino
taedium eius adducunt. ebrietatem arcet pecudum
assus pulmo praesumptus. hirundinis rostri cinis
cum murra tritus et vino quod bibetur inspersus
securos praestabit a temulentia. invenit Orus
Assyriorum rex.

1-16 LII. Praeter haec sunt notabilia animalium ad
hoc volumen pertinentium : gromphena — avem in
Sardinia narrant grui similem, ignotam iam etiam

37°

BOOK XXX. xlix. 143-Lii. 146

A man who passes his urine on a dog's is said to
become less sexually active. A wonderful thing again
(if it is true) is told about the ash of the spotted
lizard : if wrapped in a linen cloth and held in the
left hand it is aphrodisiac ; if transferred to the right
hand it is antaphrodisiac. Another wonder : the
blood of a bat, collected on a flock of wool and placed
under the head ofwomen, moves them to lust, as does
the tongue of a goose, taken either in food or in
drink.

L. The lice of phthiriasis even of the wrhole body Licei
are destroyed in three days by taking in drink the mwots, etc.
cast slough of a snake, or by drinking, with a little
salt, whey after the cheese has been taken out.
They say that if the brain of a weasel is added to
rennet, cheeses neither go rotten through age nor
are touched by mice. If the ash too of a weasel is
given to poultry or pigeons in their mash, they are
said to be safe from weasels. Pains of draught
animals in making urine are ended by a bat put on
them as an amulet, and bots by a wood-pigeon
carried three times round their middle. Wonderful
to relate, the wood-pigeon on being set free dies,
while the animal is at once freed from pain.

LI. The eggs of an owl, given for three days in Dmnken-
wine to drunkards, produce distaste for it. Drunken- "***' etc-
ness is kept away by taking early the roasted lung
of sheep. A swallow's beak reduced to ash, beaten
up with myrrh, and sprinkled on the wine that will
be drunk, will free drinkers from fear of becoming
tipsy. This is a discovery of Orus, king of Assyria.

LII. In addition to all this there are some notable
things about the animals that belong to this Book : the
gromphena, a bird spoken of in Sardinia as like a crane,

37i

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

Sardis, ut existimo— in eadem provincia ophion,
cervis tantum pilo similis nec alibi nascens. idem
auctores, nomen habere x sirulugum, quod nec quale
esset animal nec ubi nasceretur tradiderunt. fuisse
quidem non dubito, cum ct medicinae ex eo sint
demonstratae. M. Cicero tradit animalia biuros
vocari qui vites in Campania erodant.

147 LIII. Reliqua mirabilia ex his quae diximus. non
latrari a cane membranam e secundis canis habentem
aut leporis fimum vel pilos tenentem, in culicum
genere muliones 2 non amplius quam uno die vivere,
eosque qui arborarii pici rostrum habeant et mella
eximant ab apibus non attingi, porcos sequi eos a

148 quibus cerebrum corvi acceperint in offa, pulverem
in quo se mula volutaverit corpori inspersum mitigare
ardores amoris. sorices fugare,3 si unus castratus
emittatur, anguina pelle et sale et farre et serpyllo
contritis una deiectisque cum vino in fauces boum uva
maturescente, toto anno eos valere, vel si hirun-
dinum pulli tres tribus 4 offis dentur, pulvere e vestigio
anguium collecto sparsas apes in alvos reverti,

149 arietis dextro teste praeligato oves tantum gigni, non
lassescere in ullo labore qui nervos ex alis et cruri-
bus gruis habeant, mulas non calcitrare cum vinum
biberint. ungulas tantum mularum repertas, neque

1 nomen habere E r, Deilefsen : nominavere R d(?) vulg. :
om. Mayhoff.

2 Post muliones lacunam indicat Mayhoff.

3 fugare codd. : fugere Mayhoff.

4 tres tribus codd. : terni ternis Mayhoff.

372

BOOK XXX. lii. 146-Liii. 149

but now, I think. unknown even to the Sardinians. In
the same province we have the opkion, a creature
like deer only in its hair, and found nowhere else.
The same authorities say that there is a creature
called sirulugum, but they have not told us what kind
of an animal it is or where it is found. I do not
indeed doubt that it once existed, since even
medicines from it have been prescribed. Marcus
Cicero tells us that there are animals called biuri
which gnaw the vines in Campania.

LIII. There are still some wonders in the animals WoP^oi
that I have mentioned : that a dog does not bark at a
person having on him the membrane from the after-
birth of a bitch, or holding the dung or hair of a hare ;
included among gnats are muliones, which live only
for a day ; those taking honey from hives are not
stung by the bees if they have on them the beak of
a woodpecker; pigs follow those from whom they
have received in their mash the brain of a raven ;
the dust in which a she-mule has wallowed,
sprinkled on the body, lessens the fires of love.
Shrew mice are put to flight if one of them is
castrated and let go free ; if a snake's skin, salt,
emmer wheat, and wild thyme are pounded together
and with wine poured down the throat of oxen when
the grapes are ripening, they enjoy good health for
a whole year, or if three young swallows are given at
three meals in their mash ; if dust is gathered from
the track of a snake and sprinkled on bees, these
return to their hives ; if the right testicle of a ram is
tied up he begets ewes only ; those are not wearied
bv any toil who have on them sinews from the wings
and legs of a crane ; she-mules do not kick if they
have drunk wine. The hoofs of she-mules are the

373

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

aliam ullam materiam quae non perroderetur a
veneno Stygis aquae, cum id dandum Alexandro
Magno Antipater mitteret, memoria dignum est
magna Aristotelis infamia excogitatum. nunc ad
aquatilia praevertemur.

Additional Note to P. 361

Pliny, XXX, 128: vel mortumua mirum si sine adservala
transcenderit gravida innoxium fieri si protinus transcendat
adservatam. A tentative effort towards a solution of this
passage is given by Warmington as follows. The sentence
began vel mortuam mirum but was continued, in erratic copy-
ing, by a wrongly written clause (a) si sine adservata trans-
cenderit gravida which was then imperfectly corrected into
another clause (b) si protinus transcendat adservatam written
in the margin. This marginal correction (b) was later copied
out in its right place while clause (a) was still retained. It
is clause (a) which is really corrupt and superfluous, and it
should be deleted; and the whole passage may then be read:
vel mortuam mirum innoxiam fieri si protinus adservatam
transcendat gravida: " Or a dead one, wonderful to relate,
does no harm if a pregnant woman crosses it if it was preserved
without delay." Warmington suggests that a scribe began
writing mirum si sine mora adservatam transcendat instead of
si protinus a. t. At some later stage the intruded word mora
was omitted but sine was still left in and adservatam was made
into an ablative adservata. Thus si protinus transcendat
adservatam or si protinus adservatam transcendat seems likely
to be right. Anyhow to retain both clauses (a) and (b) seems
intolerable; and (a) is more wrong than (b).

374

BOOK XXX. liii. 149

onlv material discovered that is not rotted bv the
poisonous water of Styx,a a notable fact discovered
hv Ari^totle. to his great infamv. when Antipater
sent a draught of it to Alexander the Great. Now

I will pass to things found in water.''

a A ibuntain in Arcadia.

b Praciicailv the whole of this chapter is in indirect speech,
to denote the scepticisrn of Pliny.

575

BOOK XXXI

LIBER XXXI

1 I. Aquatilium secuntur in medicina beneficia,
opifice natura ne in illis quidem cessante et per undas
fluctusque ac reciprocos aestus amniumque rapidos
eursus inprobas exercente vires, nusquam potentia
maiore, si verum fateri volumus, quippe hoc elemen-

2 tum ceteris omnibus imperat. terras devorant
aquae, flammas necant, scandunt in sublime et
caelum quoque sibi vindicant ac nubium obtentu
vitalem spiritum strangulant, quae causa fulmina
elidit, ipso secum discordante mundo. quid esse
mirabilius potest aquis in caelo stantibus ? at illae,
ceu parum sit in tantam pervenire altitudinem,
rapiunt eo secum piscium examina, saepe etiam
lapides subeuntque portantes aliena pondera.

3 eaedem cadentes omnium terra enascentium causa x
fiunt prorsus mirabili natura, si quis velit reputare, ut
fruges gignantur, arbores fruticesque vivant, in
caelum migrare aquas animamque etiam herbis
vitalem inde deferre, victa confessione 2 omnes terrae

1 causa] Mayhoff (Appendix p. 485) causae coni.

2 victa confessione dTa r vulg. : confessione victa VR,
Sillig: iusta confessione Caesarius, Mayhoff: confessione
invita Urlichs.

a Or, as such things as salt are included, " creatures of the
water."

b Engliah allowa the plural " waters," but not exactly in the
sense of the Latin aquae. Here it is perhaps safer to use the
singular in translating.

37S

BOOK XXXI

I. There follow the medicinal benefits obtained Remedies
from aquatic animals ; a Nature the Creator is not aqwuic
idle even among them, but puts forth her tireless animaXs-
strength on waves, billows, ebb and flow of tides, and
the rapid currents of rivers ; and nowhere with
greater might, if we will but admit the truth, seeing
that this element is lord over all the others. Water b
swallows up the land, destroys flames, climbs aloft
claiming the sovereignty even of the sky, and by a
blanket of clouds chokes the life-giving spirit, so
forcing out thunderbolts, the world waging civil war
with itself. What can be more wonderful than water
seated c in the sky ? But as though it were a little
thing to reach this great height, water sucks up
thither with itself shoals of fish, and often even stones,
carrying up aloft a weight other than its own. This
element also falls again to become the source of all
things that spring from the earth. Right wonderful
action this on the part of Nature, if one considers it :
in order that crops may grow, and that trees and
shrubs may live, water soars to the sky and brings
down thence even to plants the breath of life, so we
are forced d to admit that all the powers of earth too

c Literally: " standing."

d " The admission being constrained " is perhaps possible
Plinian Latin. Of the emendations that of Urlichs seems the
best, giving much the same sense.

379

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

quoque vires aquarum esse benefieii. quapropter
ante omnia ipsarum potentiae * exempla ponemus.
cunctas enim enumerare quis mortalium queat ?

4 II. Emicant benigne passimque in plurimis terris
alibi frigidae, alibi calidae, alibi iunctae, sicut in
Tarbellis Aquitanica gente et in Pvrenaeis montibus
tenui intervallo discernente, alibi tepidae egelidae-
que,2 auxilia morborum profitentes et e cunctis
animalibus hominum tantum causa erumpentes.
augent numerum deorum nominibus variis urbesque
condunt, sicut Puteolos in Campania, Statiellas in
Liguria. Sextias in Narbonensi provintia, nusquam
tamen largius quam in Baiano sinu nec pluribus

5 auxiliandi generibus, aliae sulpuris vi, aliae aluminis,
aliae salis, aliae nitri, aliae bituminis, nonnullae
etiam acida salsave mixtura. vapore ipso aliquae
prosunt tantaque est vis, ut balneas calefaciant ac
frigidam etiam in solis fervere cogant. quae in Baiano
Posidianae vocantur nomine accepto a Claudii
Caesaris liberto obsonia quoque percocunt. vaporant
et in mari ipso quae Licinii Crassi fuere, mediosque
inter fluctus existit aliquid valetudini salutare.

III. Iam generatim nervis prosunt pedibusve aut

6 coxendicibus, aliae luxatis fractisve, inaniunt alvos,
sanant vulnera. capiti, auribus privatim medentur,

1 potentiae R vulg., Mayhoff: potentia ceteri codd.,
Detlefsen.

2 egelidaeque codd. (aut gelidaequae) Detlefsen: egelidae
atque Mayhoff.

a The word vis is hard to translate, as it sometimes com-
bines the sense of " power," " quality," and " magical

380

BOOK XXXI. i. viii. 6

are part of the beneficence of water. Wherefore I
shall first of all give examples of the might of water,
for what mortal man could count them all ?

II. Evervwhere in many lands gush forth benefi- Various
cent waters, here cold, there hot, there both. as theirmriws
among the Tarbelli, an Aquitanian tribe, and in the tfwo*****»-
Pyrenees, with only a short distance separating the

two, in some places tepid and lukewarm, promising
relief to the sick and bursting forth to help only men
of all the animals. Water adds to the number of the
gods by its various names, and founds cities, such as
Puteoli in Campania, Statiellae in Liguria, and
Sextiae in the province of Xarbonensis. Nowhere
however is water more bountiful than in the Bay of
Baiae, or with more variety of relief: some has the
virtue a of sulphur, some of alum, some of salt, some
of soda, some of bitumen, some are even acid and salt
in combination ; of some the mere steam is beneficial,
of which the power a is so great that it heats baths and
even makes cold water boil in the tubs. The water
called Posidian in the region of Baiae, getting its
name from a freedman of Claudius Caesar, cooks
thoroughly even meat. In the sea itself too, steam
rises from the water that belonged to Licinius
Crassus, and there comes something valuable to
health in the very midst of the billows.

III. To come now to the classes of water : some ciasses of
waters are good for sinews b or feet, or for sciatica ; lcater'
others for dislocations or fractures ; they purge the
bowels ; heal wounds ; are specific for head, or for

property." In § 3 vires seems to be, not " strength *' but

rves.

33i

powers.

6 The Latin nervus includes tendons, ligaraents, and nerves.
It is used of all fibrous tissues or merabranes.

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

oculis vero Ciceronianae. dignum x memoratu, villa
est ab Averno lacu Puteolos tendentibus inposita
litori, celebrata porticu ac nemore, quam vocabat
M. Cicero Academiam ab exemplo Athenarum ; ibi
compositis voluminibus eiusdem nominis, in qua et
moiiumenta sibi instauraverat, ceu vero non in toto

7 terrarum orbe fecisset. huius in parte prima exiguo
post obitum ipsius Antistio Yetere possidente
eruperunt fontes calidi perquam salubres oculis,
celebrati carmine Laureae Tulli, qui fuit e libertis
eius, ut protinus noscatur etiam ministeriorum
haustus ex illa maiestate ingenii. ponam enim ipsum
carmen, ubique et non ibi tantum legi dignum.2

8 Quo tua, Romanae vindex clarissime linguae,

silva loco melius surgere iussa viret
atque Academiae celebratam nomine villam

nunc reparat cultu sub potiore Yetus,
hoc etiam apparent lymphae non ante repertae

languida quae infuso lumina rore levant.
nimirum locus ipse sui Ciceronis honori

hoc dedit, hac fontes cum patefecit ope.
ut, quoniam totum legitur sine fme per orbem,

sint plures oculis quae medeantur aquae.

IY. In eadem Campaniae regione Sinuessanae
aquae sterilitatem feminarum et virorum insaniam

9 abolere produntur, V. in Aenaria insula calculosis
mederi, et quae vocatur Acidula ab Teano Sidicino

1 dignum Mayhoff: dignae (cum antecedentibus) Detlefsen:
digno, dignu, digna codd.

2 dignum Brakman: del. Detlefsen: queat Mayhoff, add.
ut ante ubique. l\dg. dignum ubique, et non ibi tantum
legi.

382

BOOK XXXI. iii. 6-v. 9

ears ; while the Ciceronian are so for the eyes. It
is worth while recording that there is a country seat
on the coast as you go from Lake Avernus to Puteoli,
with a famous portico and grove, whieh M. Cicero,
copving Athens, called Academia. There he wrote
the volumes called Academica, and in it he also
erected memorials to himself, as though indeed he
had not done so throughout the whole world. In the
front part of this estate, when the owner was Antistius
Vetus, a short time after Cicero's demise there burst
out hot springs, very beneficial for eye complaints,
which have been made famous by a poem of Laurea
Tullus, who was one of Cicero's freedmen. From it
we at once realize that even his servants drew inspira-
tion from that mighty genius. For I will quote the
actual poem, which deserves to be read, not only on
this site, but everywhere.

" O famous champion of our Latin tongue, where
grows with a fairer green the grove you bade rise,
and the villa, honoured by the name of Academe,
Yetus keeps in repair under a more careful tendance,
here are also to be seen waters not revealed before,
which with drops infused relieve wearied eyes. For
indeed the site itself gave this gift as an honour to
Cicero its master, when it disclosed springs with this
healing power, so that, since he is read throughout
the whole world, there may be more waters to give
sight to eyes."

IV. In Campania too are the waters of Sinuessa,
which are said to cure barrenness in women and
insanity in men. V. The waters in the island of
Aenaria are said to cure stone in the bladder, as does
also the water called Acidula — it is a cold one — four

3&3

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

TTTT p. haec frigida, item in Stabiano quae Dimidia
vocatur, et in Yenafrano ex fonte Acidulo. idem con-
tingit in Yelino lacu potantibus, item in Syriae fonte
iuxta Taurum montem auctor est M. Yarro et in
Phrygiae Gallo flumine Callimachus. sed ibi in
potando necessarius modus, ne lymphatos agat, quod
in Aethiopia accidere his qui e fonte Rubro biberint
Ctesias scribit.

10 VI. Iuxta Romam Albulae aquae volneribus
medentur, egelidae hae, sed Cutiliae in Sabinis
gelidissimae suctu quodam corpora invadunt, ut prope
morsus videri possit, aptissimae stomacho, nervis,
universo corpori.

VII. Thespiarum fons conceptus mulieribus re-
praesentat, item in Arcadia flumen Elatum. custodit
autem fetum Linus fons in eadem Arcadia abortusque
fieri non patitur. e diverso in Pyrrha flumen quod
Aphrodisium vocatur steriles facit.

11 VIII. Lacu Alphio vitiligines tolli Yarro auctor est,
Titiumque praetura functum marmorei signi faciem
habuisse propter id vitium. Cydnus Ciliciae amnis
podagricis medetur, sicut apparet epistula Cassi
Parmensis ad M. Antonium. contra aquarum culpa

12 in Troezene omnium pedes vitia sentiunt. Tungri
civitas Galliae fontem habet insignem plurimis bullis
stillantem, ferruginei saporis, quod ipsum non nisi in
fine potus intellegitur. purgat hic corpora, tertianas
febres discutit calculorumque vitia. eadem aqua igne

384

BOOK XXXI. v. 9-viii. 12

miles from Teanum Sidicinum. that at Stabiae called
Dimidia, and the water of Venafrum from the spring
Acidulus. The same result comes from drinking the
water of Lake Velia, also of the Syrian spring near
Mount Taurus, according to Marcus Varro, and of the
Phrygian river Gallus, according to Callimachus. But
here moderation is necessary in drinking lest it drive
people to madness, which Ctesias writes those suffer
from who drink of the Red Spring in Aethiopia.

VI. Near Rome the waters of Albula heal wounds.
These are lukewarm, but those of Cutilia of the
Sabines are very cold, penetrating the body with a
sort of suction, so that they might seem almost to
bite, being very healthful to the stomach, the sinews,
and the whole body.

VII. The spring at Thespiae causes women to con-
ceive, as does the river Elatum in Arcadia, and the
spring Linus, also in Arcadia, guards the embryo and
prevents miscarriage. The river in Pyrrha, on the con-
trary, that is called Aphrodisium, causes barrenness.

VIII. The water of Lake Alphius removes
psoriasis, Varro tells us, adding that Titius, an
ex-praetor, as a result of this complaint had a face
like that of a marble statue. The Cydnus, a river of
Cilicia, cures gout, as appears from a letter of Cassius
of Parma to M, Antonius. On the other hand, it is
the fault of the water in Troezen that everyone there
suffers from diseases of the feet. The Tungri, a
state of Gaul, has a remarkable spring that sparkles
with innumerable bubbles, with a taste of iron rust,
which yet cannot be detected until the water has
been drunk. It is a purgative, and cures tertian
agues and stone in the bladder. This water also,
if fire is brought near it, becomes turbid, and

385

VOL. VIII. O

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

admoto turbida fit ac postremo rubescit. Leueogaei
fontes inter Puteolos et Neapolim oculis et vulneribus
medentur. Cicero in admirandis posuit Reatinis
tantum paludibus ungulas iumentorum indurari.

13 IX. Eudicus in Hestiaeotide fontes duos tradit
esse, Ceronam ex quo bibentes oves nigras fieri, Nelea
ex quo albas, ex utroque varias, Theophrastus
Thuriis Crathim candorem facere, Sybarim nigritiam

14 bubus ac pecori, X. quin et homines sentire differ-
cntiam eam ; nam qui e Sybari bibant nigriores esse
durioresque et crispo capillo, qui e Crathi candidos
mollioresque ac porrecta coma. item in Macedonia
qui velint sibi candida nasci ad Haliacmonem ducere,
qui nigra aut fusca ad Axium. idem omnia fusca
nasci quibusdam in locis dicit et fruges quoque, sicut
in Messapis, at in Lusis Arcadiae quodam fonte
mures terrestres vivere et conversari. Erythris
Aleos amnis pilos gignit in corporibus.

15 XI. In Boeotia ad Trophonium deum iuxta flumen
Hercynnum x e duobus fontibus alter memoriam alter
oblivionem adfert, inde nominibus inventis.

XII. In Cilicia apud oppidum Cescum rivus fluit
Nuus, ex quo bibentium subtiliores sensus fieri M.
Varro tradit, at in Cea insula fontem esse quo hebetes
fiant, Zamae in Africa ex quo canorae voces.

1 Hercynnum Sillig: varia codd.

a Tho Greek names are referred to.
b The Greek vovs means " intelligence.'

386

BOOK XXXI. viii. 12-xii. 15

finally turns red. White Earth Springs, between
Puteoli and Xaples, is good for complaints of the
eyes and for wounds. Cicero in his Book of Marvels
alleges that only by marsh water of Ileate are the
hoofs of draught cattle hardened.

IX. Eudicus tells us that in Hestiaeotis are two
springs : Cerona, which makes black the sheep that
drink of it, and Neleus, which makes them white.
while they are mottled if they drink of each. Theo-
phrastus says that at Thurii the Crathis makes oxen
and sheep white, and the Sybaris makes them black.
X. He adds that men too are affected by this differ-
ence : that those who drink of the Svbaris are
darker and more hardy? and with curly hair, while
those who drink of the Crathis are fair, softer, and
with straight hair. He also says that in Macedonia
those who wish white young to be born lead their
beasts to the Haliacmon, but to the Axius if they
wish the young to be black or dark. The same
authority adds that in certain places all produce grows
to be dark, even grain and vegetables, as among the
Messapii, and that in a certain spring at Lusi in
Arcadia land mice live and dwell. At Erythrae the
river Axios makes hair grow on the body.

XI. In Boeotia by the temple of Trophonius near
the river Hercynnus are two springs ; one brings
remembrance, the other forgetfulness ; hence the
names ° that have been given them.

XII. In Cilicia near the town Cescum flows the
river Nuus.& Those that drink of it become, says
Marcus Varro, of keener perception, but on the
island of Cea there is a spring that makes men dull,
and at Zama in Africa is one that gives the drinkers
a tuneful voice.

387

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

16 XIII. Vinum taedio venire his qui ex Clitorio lacu
biberint ait Eudoxus, set Theopompus inebriari fonti-
bus his quos diximus, Mucianus Andri e fonte Liberi
patris statis diebus septenis eius dei vinum fluere, si
auferatur e conspectu templi, sapore in aquam trans-

17 eunte, XIV. Polyclitus ex * Lipari iuxta Solos
Ciliciae ungui, Theophrastus, hoc idem in Aethiopia
eiusdem nominis fonte, Lycos in Indis 2 Oratis fontem
esse cuius aqua lucernae luceant. idem Ecbatanis
traditur. Theopompus in Scotussaeis lacum esse

18 dicit qui volneribus medeatur,3 XV. Iuba in Trogo-
dytis lacum Insanum malefica vi appellatum ter die
fieri amarum salsumque ac deinde dulcem, totiensque
et noctu, scatentem albis serpentibus vicenum cubi-
torum, idem in Arabia fontem exilire tanta vi ut

19 nullum non pondus inpactum respuat, XVI. Theo-
phrastus Marsyae fontem in Phrygia ad Celaenarum
oppidum saxa egerere. non procul ab eo duo sunt
fontes Claeon et Gelon ab effectu Graecorum
nominum dicti. Cyzici fons Cupidinis vocatur ex
quo potantes amorem deponere Mucianus credit.

20 XVII. Crannone est fons calidus citra summum
fervorem, qui vino addito triduo calorem potionis

1 ex Lipari Detlefsen: Lipari Urlichs: expleri codd.

2 in Indis Mayhoff: Indis Detlefsen: varia codd.

3 medeatur C. F. W. Muller: medetur codd.

a Book II. § 230.

b " The oily river."

r Por these people see Book VI. § 75.

388

BOOK XXXI. xm. 16-xvn. 20

XIII. Disgust at wine, says Eudoxus, comes upon
those who have drunk of Lake Clitorius, but Theo-
pompus says that drunkenness is caused by the
springs that I have mentioned,0 and Mucianus that
at Andros, from the spring of Father Liber, on fixed
seven-day festivals of this god, flows wine, but if its
water is carried out of sight of the temple the taste
turns to that of water. XIV. Polyclitus says that
with the river Liparis b near Soli in Cilicia people are
anointed, Theophrastus says this of a spring with the
same name in Aethiopia, and Lycos that among the
Oratae c of India is a spring the water of which
keeps lamps burning bright. The same is said of
one at Ecbatana. Theopompus says that among the
people of Scotussa is a lake that heals wounds. Juba
says that among the Trogodytae is a lake called
Insanus,0* so named from its evil character, for three
times each day and three times each night it becomes
bitter, and then again fresh, full of white serpents
twenty cubits long ; he also says that in Arabia is a
spring that bursts forth with such violence that it
throws out everything, no matter how heavy, that is
heaved into it. XVI. Theophrastus tells us that a
spring of Marsyas in Phygia, near the town of
Celaenae, casts out rocks. Not far from it are two
springs, named Claeon and Gelon, so called from the
force of their Greek e names. A spring at Cyzicus
is called Cupid's Spring; those who drink of it,
Mucianus believes, lose their amorous desires.

XVII. In Crannon is a hot spring which just falls
short of boiling, the water of which with wine added
remains in vessels a hot drink for three days. There

d " The lake of Madness."

e " Weeping " and " Laughing."

389

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

custodit in vasis. sunt et Mattiaci in Germania
fontes calidi trans Rhenuni, quorum haustus triduo
fervet. circa margines vero pumicem faciunt aquae.

21 XVIII. Quod si quis fide carere ex his aliqua
arbitratur, discat in nulla parte naturae maiora esse
miracula, quamquam inter initia operis abunde multa
rettulimus. Ctesias tradit Silan * vocari stagnum in
Indis in quo nihil innatet, omnia mergantur, Coelius
apud nos in Averno etiam folia subsidere, Yarro aves
quae advolaverint emori. contra in Africae lacu

22 Apuscidamo omnia fluitant, nihil mergitur, item in
Siciliae fonte Phinthia, ut Apion tradit, et in Medo-
rum lacu puteoque Saturni. item fluvii 2 fons
Limyrae transire solet in loca vicina portendens
aliquid, mirumque quod cum piscibus transit. re-
sponsa ab his petunt incolae cibo, quem rapiunt
adnuentes, si vero eventum negent, caudis abigunt.

23 amnis Alcas in Bithynia Bryazum adluit — hoc est
templo et deo nomen — cuius gurgitem periuri negan-
tur 3 pati 4 velut nammam urentem.5 in Cantabria
fontes Tamarici in auguriis habentur. tres sunt
octonis pedibus distantes, in unum alveum coeunt

24 vasto amne. singuli siccantur duodenis diebus,

1 Silan Mayhoff (Strabo XV. 1, 38): Siden r Sillig.

2 puteoque Saturni. item fluvii Mayhoff: puteoque.
Saturni templum Detlefsen: temthuni r: themtumi V:
themtuni T: templum E.

3 negantur YRdT Hard., Mayhoff: necantur a Detlefsen:
notantur Hermolaus Barbarus.

4 pati YRdT: parthi E: rapti Detlefsen.

5 flammam urentem codd. : flamma urente I)<tUfsen.

■ Wiesbaden. h See H. §§224 foU.

39°

of many
waters.

BOOK XXXI. xvii. 20-xviii. 24

are also in Germany across the Rhine the hot springs
of Mattiacum,a a draught from which is boiling hot
for three days ; around the borders indeed the water
forms pumice.

XVIII. But if anybody thinks that some of these Themarvei
statements are incredible, he has to learn that in no
sphere does Nature show greater marvels, although
in the early parts of mv work I have mentioned b
plenty of examples. Ctesias tells us that there is
in India standing water called Silas,c in whicli
nothing floats but everything sinks to the bottom ;
Coelius says in our Avernus even leaves sink, and
Varro that the birds that fly to it die. On the other
hand, in the African lake Apuscidamus everything
floats and nothing sinks ; similarly in the Sicilian
spring Phinthia, as Apion tells us, and among the
Medes in the lake and well of Saturn. Again, the
source of the river Limyra often crosses to neigh-
bouring districts, indicating some portent, and a
wonderful thing is that the fish cross with it. The
inhabitants seek responses from them, offering food.
To give a favourable answer the fish snap it up ; but
for an unfavourable one, they knock it away with
their tails. The river Alcas in Bithynia flows by
Bryazus — this is the name both of a god and of his
temple — the current of which perjured persons are
said to be unable to endure, as it burns like a flame.
In Cantabria the springs of the Tamaris are supposed
to be prophetic. Three in number they are eight
feet apart, uniting in one channel to form a vast river.
Each one dries up for periods of twelve, occasionallv
of twenty days, without the slightest trace of water,

c A reference to Strabo shows that Mayhoffs conjecture ia
correct, but Strabo calls the Silas a river.

39?

PLINT: NATUUAL HISTORY

aliquando vicenis,1 citra suspicionem ullam aquae,
cum sit vicinus illis fons sine intermissione largus.
dirum est non profluere eos aspicere volentibus, sicut
proxime Larcio Licinio legato pro praetore post
septem dies accidit. In Iudaea rivus sabbatis
omnibus siccatur.

25 XIX. E diverso miracula alia dira. Ctesias in
Armenia fontem esse scribit, ex quo nigros pisces
ilico mortem adferre in cibis quod et circa Danuvii
exortum audivi, donec veniatur ad fontem alveo
adpositum, ubi fmitur id genus piscium ideoque ibi
caput amnis eius intellegit fama. hoc idem et in

26 Lydia in stagno Nympharum tradunt. In Arcadia
ad Pheneum aqua profluit e saxis Styx appellata,
quae ilico necat, ut diximus, sed esse pisces parvos in
ea tradit Theophrastus, letales et ipsos, quod non in

27 alio genere mortiferorum fontium. necari aquis
Theopompus et in Thracia apud Cychros dicit, Lycos
in Leontinis tertio die quam quis biberit, Varro ad
Soracten in fonte, cuius sit latitudo quattuor pedum.
sole oriente eum exundare ferventi similem, aves quae
degustaverint iuxta mortuas iacere. namque et
haec insidiosa conditio est quod quaedam etiam
blandiuntur aspectu, ut ad Nonacrim Arcadiae.
omnino enim nulla deterrent qualitate. hanc
putant nimio frigore esse noxiam, utpote cum pro-

28 fluens ipsa lapidescat. aliter circa Thessalica Tempe,
quoniam virus omnibus terrori est, traduntque aena

1 singuli siccantur duodenis diebus, aliquando vicenis
Mayhoff: siccantur duodecies singulis diebus, aliquando
vi.ies Detlefsen: varia codd.

u Perhaps " black.-' b Book II. § 231 .

392

BOOK XXXI. xvm. 24-xix. 28

although there is a copious spring near them that
never dries up. It is an evil portent if those wishing
to look at them find them not flowing, as recentlv
Larcius Licinius, a legate pro-praetore discovered
after seven days. In Judaea is a stream that dries
up every Sabbath.

XIX. On the other hand some other marvels are Deadiy
deadly. Ctesias writes that in Armenia is a spring wc
in which are dark a fish that. eaten as food, bring
instant death, as I have heard do the fish also from
the water around the rising of the Danube, until a
spring is reached close to the main channel, where
the fish of this sort go no further. At this point,
therefore, report says is the real source of that river.
They tell us that this same phenomenon occurs in
Lydia in the marsh of the Nymphs. In Arcadia near
ttie Pheneus there flows from the rocks a stream called
Stvx, which I have said b proves instantly fatal to life,
but Theophrastus tells us that in it are small fish
equally deadly ; no other kind of poisonous spring is
like this. Theopompus also says that near Cychri in
Thrace are deadly waters, Lycos that at Leontini is
water that kills on the third day after drinking, and
Varro that on Soracte is poisonous water in a spring
four feet wide. At sunrise, he adds, this bubbles
out as though it boiled, and birds that have tasted it
lie dead close by. For certain waters have also this
insidious property, that the very prospect is attrac-
tive ; as at Nonacris in Arcadia, which has nothing
at all about it to serve as a warning. They think
that this water harms by its excessive cold, seeing
that as it flows it itself turns to stone. It is other-
wise around Tempe in Thessaly, for its poison
is a terror to everyone, and they tell us that by the

393

PLINV: XATURAL HISTORY

etiam ac ferrum erodi illa aqua. profluit, ut indica-
vimus, brevi spatio, mirumque siliqua silvestris
amplecti radicibus fontem eum dicitur semper florens
purpura. et quaedam sui generis herba in labris
fontis viret. In Macedonia, non procul Euripidis
poetae sepulchro, duo rivi confluunt. alter salu-
berrimi potus, alter mortiferi.

29 XX. In Perperenis fons est quamcumque rigat
lapideam faciens terram, item calidae aquae in
Euboeae Adepso. nam quae * adit 2 rivus saxa in
altitudinem crescunt. in Eurymenis deiectae coro-
nae in fontem lapideae fiunt. in Colossis flumen est
quo lateres coniecti lapidei extrahuntur. in Scyre-
tico metallo arbores quaecumque flumine adluuntur

30 saxeae fiunt cum ramis. destillantes quoque guttae
lapide durescunt in antris, conchatis ideo,3 Miezae in
Macedonia etiam pendentes in ipsis camaris, at in
Corinthio 4 cum cecidere, in quibusdam speluncis
utroque modo, columnasque faciunt, ut in Phausia
Cherrhonesi adversae Rhodo in antro magno etiam
discolori aspectu. et hactenus contenti simus ex-
emplis.

31 XXI. Quaeritur inter medicos cuius generis aquae
sint utilissimae. stagnantes pigrasque merito dam-

1 quae E Detlefsen, Mayhoff: qua plerique codd., Hard.

2 adit E Mayhoff: cadit plerique codd. Hard.: alluit vulg.:
adluit Detlefsen.

3 conchatis Mayhoff, coll. XI. § 270: coricis codd. : Coryciis
vulg.; fortasse ideo ex lapide est ortinn.

4 Corinthio R Ianus: Corintio VdTf: coricio E: Corycio
SiUig, Mayhoff.

° Book IV. §31.

b A locus adhuc corruptus says M.tvhoff. I adopt his con-
jecture with certain doubts, for unless we discard in the next

394

BOOK XXXI. xk. 28-xxii 31

water there even bronze and iron are corroded. It
rlows, as I have pointed out,a for only a short distance,
and a marvellous thing is related of this spring : it is
embraced by the roots of a wild carob always bearing
purple blossom. And a unique kind of herb flourishes
on the margins of the spring. In Macedonia, not
far from the tomb of the poet Euripides, two streams
join, one very wholesome to drink, the other a deadly
poison.

XX. At Perperena is a spring that turns to stone Petrifying
whatever land it irrigates, as do also the hot waters ^taiaciites
at Aedepsus in Euboea, for, whatever rocks the and

r , . .1.1 a -n stalagmdes.

stream reaches mcrease rn height. At Eurymenae
chaplets, thrown into a spring, turn to stone. At
Colossae is a river, and bricks when cast into it are
of stone when taken out. In Scyros in the mine all
the trees watered by the river are turned to rock,
branches and all. Drops too dripping from the stone
harden in certain caves, and hence these are concave
in shape.b But at Mieza in Macedonia the drops
actually hang from the arched roofs, while in the
Corinthian cave they petrify after falling ; in certain
caverns the stone forms in both ways and makes pillars,
as at Phausia in the Chersonesus opposite to Rhodes
in a huge cave, where the pillars are actually of
difFerent colours to look at. These examples must be
enough for the present.

XXI. It is a question debated by the physicians The most
what kinds of water are most beneficial. They icatert™

sentence a well attested reading Corinthio {-tio) there will be no
reference to the famous Corycian cavern. It seems just
possible that an absent-minded scribe repeated lapide (or part
of it) after Coryciis, and that the vulgate, which omits ideo, is
correct, or nearly so.

395

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

nant, utiliores quae profluunt existimantes, cursu
enim percussuque ipso extenuari atque proficere,
eoque miror cisternarum ab aliquis maxime probari.
sed hi rationem adferunt, quoniam levissima sit
imbrium, ut quae subire potuerit ac pendere in aere.

32 ideo et nives praeferunt, nivibusque etiam glaciem
velut ad infinitum coacta subtilitate. leviora enim
haec esse et glaciem multo leviorem aqua. horum sen-
tentiam refelli interest vitae. in primis enim levitas
illa deprehendi aliter quam sensu vix potest, nullo
paene momento ponderis aquis inter se distantibus.
nec levitatis in pluvia aqua argumentum est subisse
eam in caelum, cum etiam lapides subire appareat
cadensque inficiatur halitu terrae, quo fit ut pluviae
aquae sordium plurimum inesse sentiatur citissime-

33 que ideo calefiat aqua pluvia. nivem quidem
glaciemque subtilissimum elementi eius videri miror
adposito grandinum argumento, e quibus pestilentis-
simum potum esse convenit. nec vero pauci inter
ipsos e contrario ex gelu ac nivibus insaluberrimos
potus praedicant, quoniam exactum sit inde quod
tenuissimum fuerit. minui certe liquorem omnem
congelatione deprehenditur et rore nimio scabiem
fieri, pruina uredinem, cognatis et nivis causis.

34 pluvias quidem aquas celerrime putrescere convenit

a The opposite is the truth.
396

BOOK XXXI. xxi. 31-34

rightly condemn stagnant and sluggish waters,
holding that running water is more beneficial, as it
is made finer and more healthy by the mere agitation
of the current. For this reason I am surprised that
some physicians recommend highly water from
cisterns. But these physicians put forward a reason ;
the lightest water, they say, is rain-water, seeing that
it has been able to rise and to be suspended in the
atmosphere. Therefore they also prefer snow and
ice even more than snow, as though its texture wrere
rarefied to the utmost ; for, they say, snow and ice
are lighter than water, and ice much lighter. To
refute this view is a matter that is important to all
men. For first of all, this lightness of water can be
discovered with difficulty except by sensation, as
the kinds of water differ practically nothing in
weight. Nor is it proof of the lightness of rain water
that it rose to the sky, since even stones are seen to do
the same, and as it falls it is infected with exhalations
from the earth. Hence it comes about that rain-
water is found to be full of dirt, for which reason this
water becomes hot very quickly. That snow indeed
and ice should be considered the finest form of that
element makes me wonder, when I have before me
the evidence of hailstones, to drink the water of
which it is agreed is most unwholesome. Xot a few
phvsicians however themselves maintain that hail
and snow on the contrary make very unhealthy drink,
since there has been taken from it what was its
thinnest part. Certainly it is found that every
liquid becomes smaller when frozen,° that too much
dew brings blight, and hoar frost blast, effects caused
by snow also being akin. Rain-water, it is agreed,
becomes putrid very quickly, and it is the worst

397

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

minimeque durare in navigatione. Epigenes autem
aquam quae septies putrefracta purgata sit tradit *
amplius non putrescere. nam cisternas etiam medici
confitentur inutiles alvo duritia faucibusque, etiam
limi non aliis inesse plus aut animalium quae faciunt

35 taedium. at iidem 2 confitendum habent nec statim
amnium utilissimas esse, sicuti nec torrentium ullius,
lacusque plurimos salubres. quaenam igitur et cuius
generis aptissimae ? aliae alibi. Parthorum reges
ex Choaspe et Eulaeo tantum bibunt, hae quamvis in
longinqua comitantur illos. sed horum placere non
quia sint amnes apparet, quoniam neque e Tigri neque
Euphrate, neque e multis aliis bibunt.

36 XXII. Limus aquarum vitium est. si tamen idem
amnis anguillis scateat, salubritatis indicium habetur,
sicuti frigoris taeneas in fonte gigni. ante omnia
autem damnantur amarae et quae sorbentem statim
implent, quod evenit Trozene. nam nitrosas atque
salmacidas in desertis Rubrum mare petentes addita
polenta utiles intra duas horas faciunt ipsaque vescun-
tur polenta. damnantur in primis quae fonte
caenum faciunt quaeque malum colorem bibentibus,
refert et si vasa aerea inficiunt aut si legumina tarde
percocunt, si liquatae lentiter3 terram relinquunt

37 decoctaeque crassis obducunt vasa crustis. est
etiamnum vitium non fetidae modo verum omnino
quicquam resipientis, iucundum sit illud licet gratum-

1 tradit coni. Mayhoff: perhibet R (?) Detlefsen, " contra
Plinii usum " (Mayhoff).

2 at iidem coni. Mayhoff, item scribit; om. codd. et Detlefsen.

3 lente coni. Warmington.

398

BOOK XXXI. xxi. 34-xxii. 37

water to stand a voyage. Epigenes, however, says
that water whieh has become putrid and been purified
seven times becomes putrid no more. But cistern
water even physicians admit is harmful to the bowels
and throat because of its hardness, and no other
water contains more slime or disgusting insects. Yet
it must be admitted, they hold, that river water is not
ipso facio the most wholesome, nor yet that of any
torrent whatsoever, while there are very many lakes
that are wholesome. What water then, and of what
kind, is the best ? It varies with the locality. The
kings of Parthia drink only of the Choaspes and the
Eulaeus ; water from these rivers is taken with them
even into distant regions. But it is clear that
the water of these rivers does not fmd favour just
because they are rivers, for the kings do not drink
from the Tigris, Euphrates, or many other rivers.

XXII. Slime in water is bad. If however the same
river is full of eels, it is held to be a sign of whole-
someness, as it is of coldness for worms to breed in a
spring. But before all are condemned bitter waters,
and those that give a full feeling immediately after
drinking, as does the water at Troezen. But the
nitrous and salty-acid streams that in the desert
flow to the Red Sea are made sweet within two hours
if pearl barley is added, and the barley itself they
eat. Especially are condemned waters that have mud
at their source, and those that give a bad colour
to those who drink of them. It also makes a difference
if water stains bronze vessels, or if it cooks greens
slowlv, if when gently filtered out it leaves a sediment
of earth, or when boiled thickly encrusts the vessel.
Not only too is fetid water bad, but also that which
tastes of anything at all, though the taste may be

399

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

que et ut saepe ad viciniam lactis accedens. aquam
^alubrem aeris quam simillimam esse oportet. unus
in toto orbe traditur fons aquae iucunde olentis in
Mesopotamia Chabura. fabulae rationem adferunt,
quoniam eo luno perfusa sit. de cetero aquarum
salubrium sapor odorve nullus esse debet.

38 XXIII. Quidam statera iudicant de salubritate,
frustrante diligentia, quando perrarum est ut levior
sit aliqua. certior subtilitas inter pares meliorem
esse quae calefiat refrigereturque celerius. quin et
haustam vasis, t ne manus pendeant,1 depositisque t
in humum tepescere adfirmant. ex quonam ergo
genere maxime probabilis continget? puteis nimi-
rum, ut in oppidis video constare, sed his quibus et
exercitationis ratio crebro haustu contingit et illa

39 tenuitas colante terra. salubritati haec satis sunt.
frigori et opacitas necessaria utque caelum videant.
super omnia una observatio — eadem et ad perennita-
tem pertinet — ut illa e vado exiliat vena, non e lateri-
bus. nam ut tactu gelida sit etiam arte contingit, si
expressa in altum aut e sublimi deiecta verberatum
corripiat aera. in natando quidem spiritum con-

40 tinentibus frigidior sentitur eadem. Neronis principis

1 ne manus pendeant codd. : ne manus suspendant Detlefsen:
ne manu pendeant Mayhoff, qui post vasis add. portatis.

° See Additional Note F.
400

BOOK XXXI. xxii. 37-xxiii. 40

pleasant and agreeable, or, as often happens,
approaching that of milk. Wholesome water ought
to be verv like air. In the whole world one spring of
water only is said to have a pleasant smell, and that
is at Chabura in Mesopotamia; a reason is sought
in the legend that with it Juno was bathed. Apart
from this wholesome water should have no sort of
taste or smell.

XXIII. Some judge the wholesomeness of water
by means of the balance. This is wasted carefulness,
for it is verv rare for one water to be lighter than
another. A more reliable and a delicate test is that,
other things being equal, a water is better that be-
comes warm and cool more quickly. Moreover we are
told that if drawn in vessels [without being weighed,
or without being warmed by the hand] ° and placed
on the ground, the better water becomes warm.
From what source then shall we obtain the most
commendable water ? From wells surely, as I see
they are generally used in towns, but they should be
those the water of which by frequent withdrawals is
kept in constant motion, and those where due thin-
ness is obtained by filtering through the earth. For
wholesomeness so much suffices ; for coolness both
shade is necessary and that the well should be open
to the air. One point above all must be observed —
and this is also important for a continuous flow — well
water should issue from the bottom, not the sides.
But coolness to the touch can also be obtained arti-
ficially, if the water is forced aloft or let fall from a
height, beating and absorbing the air. In swimming
indeed the same water is felt to be cooler by those
who hold their breath. It was a discovery of the
Emperor Nero to boil water and cool it in a glass

401

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

inventum est deeoquere aquam vitroque demissam in
nives refrigerare. ita voluptas frigoris contingit sine
vitiis nivis. omnem utique decoctam utiliorem esse
convenit, item calefactam magis refrigerari, subti-
lissimo invento. vitiosae aquae remedium est, si
decoquatur ad dimidias partes. aqua frigida ingesta
sistitur sanguis. aestus in balneis arcetur, si quis ore
teneat. quae sint haustu frigidissimae non perinde
et tactu esse, alternante hoc bono, multi familiari
exemplo colligunt.

41 XXIV. Clarissima aquarum omnium in toto orbe
frigoris salubritatisque palma praeconio urbis Marcia
est inter reliqua deum munera urbi tributa. voca-
batur haec quondam Aufeia, fons autem ipse Pitonia.
oritur in ultimis montibus Paelignorum, transit Mar-
sos et Fucinum lacum, Romam non dubie petens.
mox in specus mersa in Tiburtina se aperit novem
milibus passuum fornicibus structis perducta. primus
eam in urbem ducere auspicatus est Ancus Marcius
unus e regibus, postea Q. Marcius Rex in praetura,
rursusque restituit M. Agrippa.

42 XXV. Idem et Yirginem adduxit ab octavi lapidis
diverticulo duo milia passuum Praenestina via. iuxta
est Herculaneus rivus, quem refugiens Virginis
nomen obtinuit. horum amnium comparatione
differentia supra dicta deprehenditur, cum quantum
402

BOOK XXXI. xxiii. 40-xxv. 42

vessel by thrusting it into snow. In this way is
obtained a pleasant coolness without the injurious
qualities of snow. At any rate it is agreed that all
water is more serviceable when boiled, and that
water which has been heated can be cooled to a
greater degree — a most clever discovery. It purifies
bad water to boil it down to one half. Cold water
taken internally checks bleeding, and to hold it in
the mouth prevents overheating in the bath. Water
that is very cold to swallow is not always so to the
touch ; this good quality alternates,0 as many find
out by personal experience.

XXIV. The first prize for the coolest and most
wholesome water in the whole world has been
awarded by the voice of Rome to the Aqua Marcia,
one of the gods' gifts to our city. This was once
called the Aqua Aufeia, and the source itself Aqua
Pitonia. It rises at the extreme end of the Paelig-
nian range, crosses the country of the Marsi and the
Fucine lake, plainly making straight for Rome. Next
it sinks into the underground caves near Tibur,
reappearing and completing its journey of nine more
miles along an aqueduct. The first to begin the
bringing of this water to Rome was one of the kings,
Ancus Marcius ; later, repairs were carried out by
Quintus Marcius Rex in his praetorship, and again
by Marcus Agrippa.

XXV. The same Agrippa also brought the Virgin
Water to Rome from the bye-road, eight miles away.
that extends two miles along the road to Praeneste.
Xearby is the stream of Hercules, and because the
Virgin Water runs away from this it was so named.
A comparison of these rivers illustrates the diiference

a We might say: " and vice versa."

403

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

Yirgo tactu praestet, tantum praestet Marcia haustu,
quamquam utriusque iam pridem urbi perit voluptas,
ambitione avaritiaque in villas ac suburbana detor-
quentibus publicam salutem.

43 XXYI. Non ab re sit quaerendi aquas iunxisse
rationem. repperiuntur in convallibus maxime et
quodam convexitatis cardine aut montium radicibus.
multi septentrionales ubique partes aquosas existi-
mavere, qua in re varietatem naturae aperuisse con-
veniat. in Hyrcanis montibus a meridiano latere non
pluit, ideo silvigeri ab aquilonis tantum parte sunt.
at Olympus, Ossa, Parnasus, Appenninus, Alpes
undique vestiuntur amnibusque perfunduntur, aliqui
ab austro, sicut in Creta Albi montes. nihil ergo in
his perpetuae observationis iudicabitur.

44 XXVII. Aquarum sunt notae iuncus J et herba de
qua dictum est multumque alicui loco pectore incu-
bans rana. salix enim erratica et alnus aut vitex aut
harundo aut hedera sponte proveniunt et conrivatione
aquae pluviae in locum humiliorem e superioribus
defluentis, augurio fallaci, certiore multo nebulosa
exhalatione ante ortum solis longius intuentibns,
quod quidam ex edito speculantur proni terram

45 adtingente mento. est et peculiaris aestimatio
peritis tantum nota, quam ferventissimo aestu secun-
tur dieique horis ardentissimis, qualis ex quoque loco
repercussus splendeat. nam si terra sitiente umidior

1 Post iuncus add. aut harundo codd. Cf. infra.

a See § 40.

* This is beehion (tussilago); see XXVI. § 30.

404

BOOK XXXI. xxv. 42-xxvii. 45

mentioned above ; a for the Aqua Marcia is as much
superior to swallow as the Yirgin is cool to touch. And
yet Rome has long since lost the delights of each, for
love of display and greed have diverted these means
of public health to country seats and suburbs.

XXVI. It would be pertinent to add the method of water-
searching for water. It is found mostly in enclosed 'm ing'
valleys, and what may be called the hinge of con-
verging slopes, or at the foot of mountains. Many
have thought that everywhere the northern are the
watery slopes. On this matter it would be well to
point out the variableness of Xature. In the
Hyrcanian mountains it does not rain on the southern
slope, and so only on the north side are there woods.

But Olvmpus, Ossa, Parnassus, the Apennines, and
the Alps, are everywhere covered with trees and
watered by rivers ; others are so only on the south
side, as are the White Mountains in Crete. So m
this matter there will be no unvarying rule to follow.

XXVII. Signs of the presence of water are rushes,
the plant about which I have spoken,6 and frogs
squatting on their chest in great numbers for any one
place. For wild willow, alder, vitex, reed, or ivy,
which grow spontaneously and where there is a settling
of rain-water flowing from higher regions to one lower
down, are deceptive indications ; one much more
reliable is a misty steam, visible from a distance
before sunrise, for which some water-finders watch
from a height, lying prone with their chin touching
the earth. There is also a special sign, known only
to experts, which they look for in the hottest season
and in the most blazing heat of the day, the nature
of the reflection that shines from each locality. For
if one spot looks moister while the earth around is

4° 5

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

»•> < st ille, indubitata spes promittitur. sed tanta
oculorum intentione opus est ut indolescant. quod
fugientes ad alia experimenta decurrunt, loco in
altitudinum pedum quinque defosso ollisque e figlino
opere crudis aut peruncta pelvi aerea,1 cooperto,2
lucernaque ardente concamarata frondibus, dcin
terra, si figlinum umidum ruptumve, aut in aere
sudor vel lucerna sine defectu olei restincta aut etiam
vellus lanae madidum repperiatur, non dubie
promittunt aquas. quidam et igni prius excocunt
locum tanto efficaciore vasorum argumento.

47 XXVIII. Terra vero ipsa promittit candicantibus
maculis aut tota glauci coloris. in nigra enim
scaturigines non fere sunt perennes. figularis creta
semper adimit spes, nec amplius puteum fodiunt
coria terrae observantes, ut a nigra descendat ordo

48 supra dictus. aqua semper dulcis in argillosa terra,
frigidior in tofo. namque et hic probatur, dulces
enim levissimasque facit et colando continet sordes.
sabulum exiles limosasque promittit, glarea incertas
venas, sed boni saporis, sabulum masculum et harena
carbunculus certas stabilesque et salubres, rubra
saxa optimas speique certissimae, radices montium
saxosae et silex hoc amplius rigentes. oportet autem

1 Post aerea add. lanae vellere Mayhoff.

2 Post terra trans. cooperto Detlefsen.

a Maylioff adds lanae vellere after aerea, comparing passages
in Vitruvius, Palladius, and Geoponica. The asyndeton is
awkward, and perhaps Pliny omitted to mention the wool in
his first list, and when he came across it again in the second
list, did not think it necessary for the sense to go back and
add it to the previous clause.

406

BOOK XXXI. xxvii. 45-xxviii. 48

parehing, that is an infallible sign. But so great is
the necessary strain on the eyes that pain results. To
avoid this strain they have recourse to other tests.
They dig a hole to the depth of five feet, covering it
with jars of unbaked potters' clay, or else with a
well-oiled bronze basin, and also a burning lamp
arched over with foliage and earth on top ; if the
clay is found to be wet or broken, or if moisture covers
the bronze, or the lamp goes out without any failure
of oil, or perchance a flock of wool is wet,a then the
finding of water is assured. Some also light a fire
first and dry the hole, making yet more conclusive
the evidence of the vessels.

XXVIII. The earth however itself guarantees
water by white spots or by being green all over. For
in black earth the springs are generally not per-
manent. Potters' clay always dashes hopes of water,
and further well-digging ceases when it is observed
that the earth's strata begin with black and go down
in the order given above.6 Water in clay is
always sweet, but cooler in tufa. For tufa too is
commended, for it makes water sweet and very light ;
acting as a strainer it keeps back anv dirt. Loam c
indicates scanty trickles with slime, gravel inter-
mittent springs but of a good flavour, male loam d or
carbunculus-sand e continuous streams, steady and
wholesome; red rock points to the certain presence
of excellent water; the rocky bases of mountains, or
flint, point to the same kind of water, with great

* Apparently black, white, green.

c Sabulum, apparently soil containing coarse sand and clay.
d Sabulum masculum was coarse sabidum.
e See Varro I. 9, 2; earth so scorched by the sun that roots
are charred.

407

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

fodienribus umidiores adsidue respondere glaebas

49 faciliusque ferramenta descendere. depressis puteis
sulpurata vel aluminosa occurrentia putearios necant.
experimentum huius periculi est demissa ardens
lucerna si extinguitur, tunc secundum puteum dextra
ac sinistra fodiuntur aestuaria quae graviorem illum
halitum recipiant. fit et sine his vitiis altitudine
ipsa gravior aer quem emendant adsiduo linteorum
iactatu eventilando. cum ad aquam ventum est, sine

50 harenato opus surgit ne venae obstruantur. quae-
dam aquae vere statim incipiente frigidiores sunt,
quarum non in alto origo est— hibernis enim constant
imbribus — quaedam a canis ortu, sicut in Macedoniae
Pella utrumque. ante oppidum enim incipiente
aestate frigida est palustris, dein maximo aestu in
excelsioribus oppidi riget. hoc et in Chio evenit
simili ratione portus et oppidi. Athenis Enneacrunos
nimbosa aestate frigidior est quam puteus in Iovis
horto, at ille siccitatibus riget. maxime autem putei
circa arcturum non ipsa aestate deficiunt, omnesque
quatriduo eo subsidunt, iam vero multi hieme tota, ut

51 circa Olynthum, vere primum aquis redeuntibus. in
Sicilia quidem circa Messanam et Mylas hieme in
totum inarescunt fontes, ipsa aestate exundant am-
nemque faciunt. Apolloniae in Ponto fons iuxta

a July 19. b About September 17.

408

BOOK XXXI. xxviii. 48-51

coolness in addition. But as the diggers go deeper,
the clods should prove continually moister, and the
spades cut down more easily. When wells have been weiu and
sunk deep, the well-diggers are killed if they meet vcU-di^-
with sulphurous or aluminous fumes. A test for
this danger is to let down a lighted lamp and see if
it goes out. If it does, vent-holes are sunk at the
side of the weil, on the right and on the left, to take
off the oppressive gas. Apart from these injurious
substances, mere depth makes the air oppressive ; it
is dissipated by continuous fanning with linen cloths.
When water has been reached, walls are built from
the bottom no cement being used lest the springs be
dammed up. Some water, the source of which is not
at a height, is cooler right from the beginning of
spring — for it is made up of winter rain — some is
cooler after the rising of the Dog-star a ; in Mace-
donia at Pella are both kinds. For before the town
there is a marsh stream that is cold at the beginning Cooi waters.
of summer ; then in the higher parts of the town the
water is very cold even in the height of summer. A
similar phenomenon occurs in Chios also, the relative
position of harbour and town being the same. At
Athens, Enneacrunos in a cloudy summer is cooler
than the well in the Garden of Juppiter, while this
latter is very cold during summer droughts. Wells
however generally run dry about Arcturus,b not in
the actual summer, and all sink low during the four
days of its rising. Moreover many wells fail through-
out the winter, as those around Olynthus, the water
returning first in the spring. In Sicily indeed, in the
region of Messana and Mylae, springs in winter dry
up altogether, but in the actual summer overflow
and form rivers. At Apollonia in Pontus a spring

409

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

mare aestate tantum superfluit et maxime circa canis
ortum, parcius, si frigidior sit aestas. quaedam
terrae imbribus sicciores fiunt, velut in Narniensi
agro, quod admirandis suis inseruit M. Cicero,
siccitate lutum fieri prodens, imbre pulverem.

r>2 XXIX. Omnis aqua hieme dulcior est, aestate
minus, autumno minime, minusque per siccitates.
neque aequalis amnium plerumque gustus est magna
alvei differentia. quippe tales sunt aquae qualis
terra per quam fluunt qualesve herbarum quas lavant
suci. ergo idem amnes parte aliqua repperiuntur
insalubres. mutant saporem et influentes rivi, ut
Borysthenen, victique diluuntur. aliqui vero et
imbre mutantur. ter accidit in Bosporo ut salsi
deciderent necarentque frumenta, totiens et Nili
riguapluviae amara fecere magnapestilentia Aegypti.

53 XXX. Nascuntur fontes decisis plerumque silvis,
quos arborum alimenta consumebant, sicut in Haemo
obsidente Gallos Cassandro, cum valli gratia silvas
cecidissent. plerumque vero damnosi torrentes con-
rivantur detracta collibus silva continere nimbos ac
digerere consueta. et coli moverique terram callum-
que summae cutis solvi aquarum interest. proditur
certe in Creta expugnato oppido quod vocabatur
Arcadia cessasse fontes amnesque qui in eo situ multi
erant rursus condito post sex annos emersisse, ut
quaeque coepissent partes coli.

° Or: " disperse ".

410

BOOK XXXI. xxviii. 51- xxx. 53

near the sea is flooded only in summer, and especiallv
about the rising of the Dog-star, but less so if the
summer is colder than usual. Certain lands become
drier in rainy weather, as the region of Xarnia;
Marcus Cicero included this in his Marvels, saying
that drought brings mud, and rain dust.

XXIX. All water is sweeter in winter, in summer Vanetiesof
less so, in autumn least, and less during droughts. water-
The taste of rivers is usually variable, owing to the

great difference in river beds. For waters vary with
the land over which they flow, and with the juices of
the plants they wash. Therefore the same rivers are
found in some parts to be unwholesome. Tribu-
taries too alter the flavour of a river, as do those of the
Borysthenes, and being absorbed are diluted. Some
rivers indeed are also changed by rain. Three times
it has happened in the Bosphorus that salt rains fell
and ruined the crops, and three times rains have made
bitter the inundations of the Xile, a great plague for
Egypt.

XXX. Springs arise often when woods have been ^
cut down, being used up before as sustenance for the ^/Zate"
trees ; this happened when Cassander was besieging
the Gauls after the woods on Mount Haemus had been
felled by them to make a rampart. Often indeed
devastating torrents unite when from hills has been
cut away the wood that used to hold the rains and
absorb a them. It also improves the water supply for
the earth to be dug and tilled, and for the hard sur-
face crust to be broken up. It is at any rate reported
that in Crete, when a town called Arcadia had been
stormed, the many springs and rivers of that region
went dry, and six years afterwards, when the town
was rebuilt, they reappeared, as each piece of land

arious
phenomena

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

54 Terrae quoque motus profundunt sorbentque aquas,
sicut eirca Pheneum Arcadiae quinquies accidisse
constat. sic et in Coryco monte amnis erupit poste-
aque * coeptus est coli. illa mutatio mira, cuius causa
nulla evidens apparet, sicut in Magnesia e calida facta
frigida, salis non mutato sapore, et in Caria, ubi
Neptuni templum est, amnis qui fuerat ante dulcis

55 mutatus in salem est. et illa miraculi plena,
Arethusam Syracusis fimum redolere per Olympia,
verique simile, quoniam Alpheus in eam insulam sub
maria permeet. Rhodiorum fons in Cherroneso nono
anno purgamenta egerit. mutantur et colores
aquarum, sicut Babylone lacus aestate rubras habet

56 diebus undecim. et Borysthenes statis 2 temporibus
caeruleus fertur, quamquam omnium aquarum
tenuissimus, ideoque innatans Hypani, in quo et
illud mirabile, austris flantibus superiorem Hypanim
fieri. sed tenuitatis argumentum et aliud est quod
nullum halitum, non modo nebulam emittit. qui
volunt diligentes circa haec videri dicunt aquas
graviores post brumam fieri.

57 XXXI. Ceterum a fonte duei fictilibus tubis utilissi-
mum est crassitudine binum digitorum, commissuris
pyxidatis ita ut superior intret, calce viva ex oleo

1 posteaque codd.: posteaquam cod. a vulg., Detlcfsen.

2 statis Mayhoff ex Athen. II. 16: aestatis codd., Detlefsen.

a With the reading posteaqua?n: " after it came under
cultivation."

6 The MSS. reading: " in summer time." Perhaps aestatis
because a scribe had just written aestate.

412

BOOK XXXI. xxx. 54-xxxi. 57

came under cultivation. Earthquakes too make
water break out or swallow it up, for example, as is
well known, around Pheneus in Arcadia this has
happened five times. Thus too on Mount Corycus
a river burst out, but afterwards a came to be tilled
ground. Any change is startling when no obvious
reason for it is to be seen. In Magnesia for instance
hot water became cold but its salty flavour remained
unaltered ; while in Caria, where the temple of
Neptune is, a river which before had been sweet was
changed to salt. The following phenomena too are
very wonderful: the Arethusa at Syracuse smells of
dung during the Olympian games, a likely thing, for
the Alpheus crosses to that island under the bed of the
seas. A spring in the Rhodian Chersonesus pours
out refuse every ninth year. The colour too of water
changes, for example at Babylon a lake in summer
has red water for eleven days, and the Borysthenes at
fixed intervals & flowsc with a blue colour, although
of all waters it is the thinnest, and for that reason
flows above the Hypanis. Wherein is another
marvel : when south winds blow the Hypanis goes
above. But other evidence for the thinness of the
Borysthenes is that it gives out no exhalation, not
to say no mist. Those who wish to be thought careful
enquirers into these matters say that water becomes
heavier after the winter solstice.

XXXI. For the rest, the best way for water to be waterpipes.
brought from a spring is in earthenware pipes two
fingers d thick, the joints boxed together so that the
upper pipe fits into the lower, and smoothed with
quicklime and oil. The gradient of the water should

It is less likely that fertur means " is said (to be).
The digitus was about one inch.

413

PLINY: NATURAL HISTOUY

levigatis. libramentuni aquae in eentenos pedes
sieilici nrinimum erit, si cuniculo veniet, in binos actus
lumina esse debebunt. quam surgere in sublime
opus fuerit plumbo veniat. subit altitudinem exortus
sui. si longiore tractu veniet, subeat crebro descend-

58 atque, ne libramenta pereant. flstulas denum pedum
longitudinis esse legitimum est et si quinariae erunt
sexagena pondo pendere, si octonariae centena, si
denariae centena vicena, ac deinde ad has portiones.
denaria appellatur cuius lamnae latitudo, antequam
curvetur, digitorum decem est, dimidioque eius
quinaria. in anfractu omni collis quinariam fieri, ubi
dometur impetus, necessarium est, item castella,
prout res exigit.

59 XXXII. Homerum calidorum fontium mentionem
non fecisse demiror, cum alioqui lavari calida fre-
quenter induceret, videlicet quia medicina tunc non
erat haec quae nunc aquarum perfugio utitur. est
autem utilis sulpurata nervis, aluminata paralyticis
aut simili modo solutis, bituminata aut nitrosa, qualis

60 Cutilia est, bibendo atque purgationibus. plerique
in gloria ducunt plurimis horis perpeti calorem earum,
quod est inimicissimum, namque paulo diutius quam
balineis uti oportet, ac postea frigida dulci, nec sine
oleo discedentes, quod vulgus alienum arbitratur,
idcirco non alibi corporibus magis obnoxiis, quippe et
vastitate odoris capita replentur et frigore infestantur
sudantia, reliqua corporum parte mersa. similis

a The actus was 120 feet long.
b I.e. of sulphur.

414

BOOK XXXI. xxxi. 57-xxxii. 60

be at least a quarter of an inch every hundred feet ;
should it come in a tunnel, there must be vent holes
every two actus.a When water is required to form
a jet, it should come in lead pipes. Water rises as
high as its source. If it comes from a long distance,
the pipe should frequently go up and down, so that
no momentum may be lost. The usual length for a
piece of piping is ten feet ; five-finger lengths should
weigh 60 pounds, eight-finger lengths 100 pounds,
ten-finger lengths 120 pounds, and so on in propor-
tion. A ten-finger pipe is so called when the breadth
of the strip before bending is ten fingers, and one
half as large a five-finger pipe. At every bend of a
hill where the momentum must be controlled, it is
necessary to use a five-finger pipe ; reservoirs must
be made according as circumstances require.

XXXII. I wonder that Homer made no mention Hot and
of hot springs, and that though he frequently speaks ^,^,.
of hot baths, the reason being that modern hydro-
pathic treatment was not then a part of medicine.
Sulphur waters, however, are good for the sinews,
alum waters for paralysis and similar cases of collapse,
waters containing bitumen and soda, such as that of
Cutilia, are good for drinking and as a purge. Many
people make a matter of boasting the great number
of hours they can endure the heat of these sulphur
waters — a very injurious practice, for one should
remain in them a little longer than in the bath, after-
wards rinse in cool, fresh water, and not go away
without a rubbing with oil. The common people
find these details irksome, and so there is no greater
risk to health than this treatment, because an over-
powering smell b goes to the head, which sweats and is
seized with chill, while the rest of the body is im-

415

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

error, quam plurimo potu gloriantur. vidiquc iam
turgidos bibendo in tantum ut anuli integerentur
cute, cum reddi non posset hausta multitudo aquae.
nec hoc ergo fieri convenit sine crebro salis gustu.

61 utuntur et caeno fontium ipsorum utiliter, sed ita si
inlitum sole inarescat. nec vero omnes quae sint
calidae medicatas esse credendum, sicut in Segesta
Siciliae, Larisa Troade,1 Magnesia, Melo, Lipara.
nec decolor species aeris argentive, ut multi existima-
verunt, medicaminum argumentum est, quando nihil
eorum in Patavinis fontibus, ne odoris quidem
differentia aliqua deprehenditur.

62 XXXIII. Medendi modus idem et in marinis erit
quae calefiunt ad nervorum dolores, feruminanda a
fracturis ossa contusa, item corpora siccanda, qua de
causa et frigido mari utuntur. praeterea est alius
usus multiplex, principalis vero navigandi phthisi
adfectis, ut diximus, aut sanguine egesto, sicut
proxime Annaeum Gallionem fecisse post consula-

63 tum meminimus. neque enim Aegyptus propter se
petitur, sed propter longinquitatem navigandi. quin
et vomitiones ipsae instabili volutatione commotae
plurimis morbis capitis, oculorum, pectoris medentur
omnibusque propter quae helleborum bibitur. aquam
vero maris per se efficaciorem discutiendis tumoribus
putant medici, si illa decoquatur hordeacia farina, ad

1 Inter Larisa et Troade comma multi edd.

a See XXIV. § 28 and XXVIII. § 54.
416

BOOK XXXI. xxxu. 6o-xx\iii. 63

mersed. Those make a like mistake who boast of the
great quantity they ean drink. I have seen some
already swollen with drinking to such an extent that
their rings were covered by skin, since they could not
void the vast amount of water they had swallowed.
So it is not good to drink these waters without a
frequent taste of salt. The mud too of medicinal
springs is used with advantage, but the application
should be dried in the sun. We must not think, how-
ever, that all hot waters are medicinal ; for there are
those at Segesta in Sicily, at Larisa in the Troad, at
Magnesia, in Melos and Lipara. Nor is the discolora-
tion of bronze or silver a proof, as many have thought.
of medicinal properties, since there are none in the
springs of Patavium. Between medicinal and other
water there is not even a difference of smell to be
detected.

XXXIII. The same method of treatment will also Medkmai
apply to sea water, which is used hot for pains in the ^a^ sea
sinews, for joining fractured bones, and for bruised
bones; also for drying the body, in which treatment
cold sea water is also employed. There are besides
many other uses, the chief however being a sea voyage
for those attacked by consumption, as I have said,a
and for haemoptysis, such as quite recently within
our memory was taken by Annaeus Gallio after his
consulship. Egypt is not chosen for its own sake, but
because of the length of the voyage. Moreover the
mere sea-sickness caused by rolling and pitching are
good for very many ailments of the head, eyes, and
chest, as well as for all complaints for which hellebore
is given. Sea water indeed by itself physicians think
to be more efficacious for dispersing tumours, if with it
a decoction is made of barley meal for parotid swell-

4i7

VOL. VIII. P

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

parotidas. emplastris etiam. maxime albis et malag-

64 matis miscent, prodest et infusa crebro ictu. bibitur
quoque, quamvis non sine iniuria stomachi, ad pur-
ganda corpora bilemque atram aut sanguinem con-
cretum reddendum alterutra parte. quidam et in
quartanis dedere eam bidendam et in tenesmis
articulariisque morbis adservatam in hoc, vetustate
virus deponentem, aliqui decoctam, omnes ex alto
haustam nullaque dulcium mixtura corruptam, in quo
usu praecedere vomitum volunt. tunc quoque

65 acetum aut vinum ea aqua miscent. qui puram
dedere raphanos supermandi ex mulso aceto iubent,
ut ad vomitiones revocent. clysteribus quoque
marinam infundunt tepefactum. testium quidem
tumorem fovendo non aliud praeferunt, item pernio-
num vitio ante ulcera, simili modo pruritibus, psoris et
lichenum curationi. lendes quoque et taetra capitis
animalia hac curantur. et liventia reducit eadem
ad colorem.1 in quibus curationibus post marinam
aceto calido fovere plurimum prodest. quin et ad
ictus venenatos salutaris intellegitur, ut phalangi-
orum et scorpionum, et ptyade aspide respersis,

66 calida autem in his adsumitur. sufhtur eadem cuni
aceto capitis doloribus. tormina quoque et choleras
calida infusa clysteribus sedant. difficilius per-
frigescunt marina calefacta. mammas sororientes,
praecordia maciemque corporis piscinae maris corri-
gunt, aurium gravitatem, capitis dolores cum aceto
ferventium vapor. rubiginem ferro marinae celer-

1 colorem Mayhoff: colores codd., contra Plinii usum.

" White plasters were made with cerussa, white lead. See
Celsus V. 19, 2.

418

BOOK XXXI. xxxiii. 63-66

ings. It is also an ingredient of plasters, especially
white plasters,0 and poultices. It is beneficially
used too when poured over in frequent douches. It
is also drunk, though not without harm to the
stomach, for purging the body and for getting rid of
black bile or clotted blood by vomit or stool. Some
have also given it to be drunk in quartan agues, in
tenesmus, and for diseased joints, keeping it for this
purpose, for age takes away its injurious qualities.
Some boil it ; all draw it up out at sea, use it unspoiled
by anv addition of fresh water, and in using this
remedy prefer that an emetic should precede the
draught. Then also they mix with the water vinegar
or wine. Those who have given it pure, recommend
to eat afterwards radishes with oxymel to provoke
further vomiting. Sea water warmed is also injected
as an enema. Xothing is preferred to it for foment-
ing swollen testicles, or for bad chilblains before
ulceration; similarly for itching, psoriasis, and the
treatment of lichen. Xits too and foul vermin on the
head are treated with sea water. It also restores the
natural colour to livid patches. In this treatment it
is of verv great advantage to foment with hot
vinegar after the sea water. It is moreover known
to be healing for poisonous stings, as of spiders and
scorpions, and for persons wetted by the spittle of
the asp ptyas, but for these purposes it is employed
hot. Steam from sea water and vinegar is beneficial
for headaches. Colic too and cholera are relieved
by warm enemas of sea water. Things warmed by
it are harder to cool thoroughly. Swollen breasts,
the viscera, and emaciation, are rectitied by sea
baths, deafness and headache by the vapour of
boiling sea water and vinegar. Sea water removes

419

PLIXY: NATURAL HISTORY

rime exterunt, pecorum quoque scabiem sanant
lanasque emolliunt.

67 XXXIV. Nec ignoro haec mediterraneis super-
vacua videri posse. verum et hoc cura providit in-
venta ratione qua sibi quisque aquam maris faceret.
illud in ea ratione mirum, si plus quam sextarius salis
in quattuor sextarios aquae mergatur, vinci aquam
salemque non liquari. cetero sextarius salis cum
quattuor aquae sextariis salsissimi maris vim et
naturam implet. moderatissimum auteni putant
supra dictam aquae mensuram octonis cyathis salis
temperari, quoniam ita et nervos excalefaciat et
corpus non exasperet.

68 XXXV. Inveteratur et quod vocant thalassomeli
aequis portionibus maris, mellis, imbris. ex alto et
ad hunc usum advehunt fictilique vaso et picato con-
dunt. prodest ad purgationes maxime sine stomachi
vexatione et sapore grato et odore.

69 XXXVI. Hydromeli quoque ex imbre puro cum
melle temperabatur quondam, quod daretur adpe-
tentibus vini aegris veluti innocentiore potu, damna-
tum iam multis annis, isdem vitiis quibus vinum nec
isdem utilitatibus.

70 XXXVII. Quia saepe navigantes defectu aquae
duleislaborant,haec quoque subsidia demonstrabimus.
expansa circa navem vellera madescunt accepto halitu
maris, quibus dulcis umor exprimitur, item demissae
reticulis in mare concavae ex cera pilae vel vasa

a It is hard to reconcile this remark with the many pre-
scriptions containing hydromeli (aqita mnha) in Pliny. Per-
haps there is a reference here to a particular kind of hydromel.

420

BOOK XXXI. xxxm. 66-xxxvn. 70

very quickly rust from iron, heals too scab on sheep,
and softens vvool.

XXXIV. I am well aware that to inland dwellers
these remarks may appear superfluous, but research
has provided for this also by discovering a method
whereby every man may make sea water for himself.
In this method there is one strange feature : if more
than a sextarius of salt is dropped into four sextarii of
water, the water is overpowered, and the salt does
not dissolve. However, a sextarius of salt and four
sextarii of water give the strength and properties of
the saltest sea. But it is thought that the most
reasonable proportion is to compound the measure
of water given above with eight cyathi of salt. This
mixture warms the sinews without chafing the skin.

XXXV. What is called thalassomeli is a mixture, Tiiaiasso-
kept till old, of sea water, honey, and rain water in m>
equal proportions. For this purpose too the water is
brought from out at sea, and the mixture is stored

in an earthenware vessel lined with pitch. It is good
especially for purges, does not disturb the stomach,
and has a pleasant flavour and smell.

XXXVI. Hydromel too is a mixture once prepared Hydromei.
from pure rainwater and honey, to be given as a less
injurious drink to patients who craved for wine.

It has been condemned now for many years a as having
all the faults of wine with none of its advantages.

XXXVII. Because those at sea often suffer from ^resh trater
the failure of fresh water, I shall describe ways of
meeting this difficulty. If spread around a ship,
fleeces become moist by absorption of evaporated

sea water, and from them can be squeezed water
which is fresh. Again, hollow wax balls, let down
into the sea in nets, or empty vessels with their

421

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

inania opturata dulcem intra se colligunt umoivm.
nain in terra marina aqua argilla pereolata dulcescit.

71 luxata eorpora et hominum et quadrupedum natando
in cuius libeat generis aqua facillime in artus redeunt.
est et in metu peregrinantium ut temptent vali-
tudinem aquae ignotae. hoc cavent e balneis
egressi statim frigidam suspectam hauriendo.

72 XXXYIII. Muscus qui in aqua fuerit podagris in-
litus prodest, item oleo admixto talorum dolori tumo-
rique. spuma aquae adfrietu verrucas tollit, nec non
harena litorum maris, praecipue tenuis et sole can-
dens, in medicina est siccandis corporibus coopertis
hydropicorum aut rheumatismos sentientium. et
hactenus de aquis, nunc de aquatilibus. ordiemur
autem ut in reliquis a principalibus eorum quae sunt
salsa ac spongea.

73 XXXIX. Sal omnis aut fit aut gignitur, utrumque
pluribus modis, sed causa gemina, coacto umore vel
siccato. siccatur in lacu Tarentino aestivis solibus,
totumque stagnum in salem abit, modicum alioqui.
altitudine genua non excedens. item in Sieilia in lacu
qui Cocanicus vocatur et alio iuxta Gelam. horum
extremitates tantum inarescunt, sicut in Phrygia,
Cappadocia, Aspendi, ubi largius coquitur et usque
ad medium. aliud etiam in eo mirabile quod tantun-
dem nocte subvenit quantum die auferas. omnis e

74 stagnis sal minutus atque non glaeba est. aliud
genus ex aquis maris sponte gignitur spuma in
extremis litoribus ac scopulis relicta. hic omnis rore

422

BOOK XXXI. xxxvii. 70-xxxix. 74

mouth sealed, collect fresh water inside. But on
land sea water is made fresh by flltering through clay.
Dislocated limbs of both man and quadrupeds are
very easily re-set by swimming in any kind of
water. Travellers too are sometimes afraid lest
unknown water should endanger their health. A
precaution against this danger is to drink the sus-
pected water cold immediately on leaving the bath.

XXXVIII. An application of moss that has grown Mossasa
in water is good for gout, and mixed with oil for pain- cure'
ful and swollen ankles. Rubbing with foam of water
removes warts, as does also sand of the sea shores,
especially fine sand whitened by the sun; it is used

in medicine as a covering for drying the bodies
of patients suffering from dropsy or catarrhs. So
much for waters ; now for the products of water. I
shall begin, as elsewhere, with the chief of them, that
is, with salts and sponge.

XXXIX. All salt is artificial or native ; each is Sait,
formed in several ways, but there are two agencies, andnative
condensation or drying up of water. It is dried out

of the Tarentine lake by summer sun, when the whole
pool turns into salt, although it is always shallow,
never exceeding knee height, likewise in Sicily from
a lake, called Cocanicus, and from another near Gela.
Of these the edges only dry up : in Phrygia, Cappa-
docia, and at Aspendus, the evaporation is wider, in
fact right to the centre. There is yet another
wonderful thing about it: the same amount is
restored during the night as is taken away during the
day. All salt from pools is fine powder, and not in
blocks. Another kind produced from sea water
spontaneously is foam left on the edge of the shore
and on rocks. All this is condensation from drift,

423

PLINY: NATl TtAL HISTORY

densatur, et est acrior qui in scopulis invenitur. sunt
etiamnum naturales ditferentiae tres. namque in
Bactris duo lacus vasti, alter ad Scythas versus alter
ad Arios, sale exaestuant, sicut ad Citium in Cypro
et circa Memphin extrahunt e lacu, dein sole siccant.

75 sed et summa fluminum densantur in salem amne
reliquo veluti sub gelu fluente, ut apud Caspias portas
quae salis flumina appellantur, item circa Mardos et
Armenios. praeterea et apud Bactros amnis Ochus
et Oxus ex adpositis montibus deferunt salis ramenta.

76 sunt et in Africa lacus, et quidem turbidi, salem
ferentes. ferunt quidem et calidi fontes, sicut
Pagasaei. et hactenus habent se genera ex aquis

77 sponte provenientia. sunt et montes nativi salis, ut
Indis Oromenus, in quo lapicidinarum modo caeditur
renascens, maiusque regum vectigal ex eo est quam
ex auro atque margaritis. effoditur e terra, ut palam
est umore densato, in Cappadocia. ibi quidem caedi-
tur specularium lapidum modo. pondus magnum

78 glaebis quas micas vulgus appellat. Gerris Arabiac
oppido muros domosque e massis salis faciunt aqua
feruminantes. invenit et iuxta Pelusium Ptolo-
maeus rex, cum castra faceret. quo exemplo postea
inter Aegyptum et Arabiam etiam squalentibus locis
coeptus est inveniri detractis harenis, qualiter et per
Africae sitientia usque ad Hammonis oraculum, is

7'.» (juidem crescens cum luna noctibus. nam et Cyre-

424

BOOK XXXI. xxxix. 74-79

and that found on rocks has the sharper taste. There
are also three different kinds of native salt ; for in
Bactra are two vast lakes, one facing the Scythians,
the other the Arii, which exude salt, while at Citium
in Cyprus and around Memphis salt is taken out of a
lake and then dried in the sun. But the surface too
of rivers may condense into salt, the rest of the
stream flowing as it were under ice, as near the
Caspian Gates are what are called " rivers of salt,"
also around the Mardi and the Armenians. More-
over, in Bactria too the rivers Ochus and Oxus bring
down scrapings of salt from nearby mountains.
There are also lakes in Africa, and that muddy ones,
which carry salt. Indeed hot springs too carry it,
such as those at Pagasae. So much for the different
kinds of salt which come, as natural products, from
waters. There are also mountains of natural salt, Blocksait.
such as Oromenus in India, where it is cut out like
blocks of stone from a quarry, and ever replaces
itself, bringing greater revenues to the rajahs than
those from gold and pearls. It is aiso dug out of
the earth in Cappadocia, being evidently formed
by condensation of moisture. Here indeed it is
split into sheets like mica ; the blocks are very
heavy, nicknamed by the people " grains." At
Gerra, a town of Arabia, the walls and houses are
made of blocks of salt cemented with water. Near
Pelusium too King Ptolemy found salt when he was
making a camp. This led afterwards to the discovery
of salt by digging away the sand even in the rough
tracts between Egypt and Arabia, as it is also found
as far as the oracle of Hammon through the parched
deserts of Africa, where at night it increases as the
moon waxes. But the region of Cyrenaica too is

425

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

naici tractus nobilitantur Hammoniaco et ipso, quia
sub harenis inveniatur, appellato. similis est colore
alumini quod schiston vocant, longis glaebis neque
perlucidis, ingrato sapore, sed medicinae utilis. pro-
batux quam maxime perspicuus, rectis scissuris.
insigne de eo proditur quod levissimus intra specus
suos in lucem universam prolatus vix credibili pondere
ingravescat. causa evidens, cuniculorum spiritu
madido sic adiuvante molientes ut adiuvant aquae.
adulteratur Siculo quem Cocanicum appellavimus,

80 nec non et Cyprio mire simili. in Hispania quoque
citeriore Egelestae caeditur glaebis paene trans-
lucentibus cui iam pridem palma a plerisque medicis
inter omnia salis genera perhibetur. omnis locus in
quo repperitur sal sterilis est nihilque gignit. et in

81 totum sponte nascens intra haec est. facticii varia
genera, volgaris plurimusque in salinis mari adfuso
non sine aquae * dulcis 2 riguis, sed imbre maxime
iuvante ac super omnia sole multo,3 aliter non
inarescens. Africa circa Uticam construit acervos
salis ad collium speciem, qui ubi sole lunaque induru-
ere, nullo umore liquescunt vixque etiam ferro cae-
duntur. fit tamen et in Creta sine riguis mare in
salinas infundentibus et circa Aegyptum ipso mari

1 aquae d : aquis VRE, Mayhoff.
- dulcis codd. : dulcibus Mayhoff.

3 Post multo in VR que: Mayhoff multo assiduoque coni.,
multo altoque Brakman.

° This salt consists of chlorides of sodium, calcium, and
magnesium. The Greek for " sand " is dfi/xog.

b I.e. " cleft."

f See § 73.

d Brakman's alto would mean " overhead." Mayhoff also
conjectures lunaque, as just below.

426

BOOK XXXI. xxxix. 79-81

famous for Hammoniac salt, itself so called because
it is found under the sand.a It is in colour like the
alum called schiston,b consisting oflong opaque slabs,
of an unpleasant flavour, but useful in medicine.
That is most valued which is most transparent and
splits into straight flakes. A remarkable feature is
reported of it : of very little weight in its underground
pits, when brought into the light of day it becomes
incredibly heavy. The reason is obvious ; the damp
breath of the pits helps the workers by supporting
the weight as does water. It is adulterated by the
Sicilian salt I have said c comes from the lake
Cocanicus, as well as by Cyprian salt, which is wonder-
fully like it. In Hither Spain too at Egelesta salt is
cut into almost transparent blocks ; to this for some
time past most physicians have given the first place
among all kinds of salt. Every region in which salt
is found is barren, and nothing will grow there. To
speak generally, these remarks about the various
kinds of native salt are comprehensive. Of artificial Artificiai
salt there are various kinds. The usual one, and the s°
most plentiful, is made in salt pools by running into
them sea water not without streams of fresh water,
but rain helps very much, and above all much <warm)d
sunshine, without which it does not dry out. In
Africa around L tica are formed heaps of salt like
hills : when they have hardened under sun and moon,
they are not melted by any moisture. and even iron
cuts them with difhculty. It is also however made
in Crete without fresh water e by letting the sea flow
into the pools, and around Egypt by the sea itself,

" K. C. Bailey in Hermathena for 1926 points out that fresh
water could be profitably used only for washing salt already
obtained by evaporation.

427

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

influente in solum, ut credo, Nilo sucosum. fit et

82 puteis in salinas ingestis. prima densatio Babylone
in bitumen liquidum cogitur oleo simile, quo et in
lucernis utuntur. hoc detracto subest sal. et in
Cappadocia e puteis ac fonte aquam in salinas in-
gerunt. in Chaonia excocunt aquam ex fonte re-
frigerandoque salem faciunt inertem nec candidum-
Galliae Germaniaeque ardentibus lignis aquam
salsam infundunt.

83 XL. Hispaniae quadam sui parte e puteis hauriunt
muriam appellantes. illi quidem et lignum referre
arbitrantur. quercus optima, ut quae per se cinere
sincero vim salis reddat, alibi corylus laudatur. ita
infuso liquore salso arbor x etiam in salem vertitur.
quicumque ligno confit sal niger est. apud Theo-
phrastum invenio Umbros harundinis et iunci cinerem
decoquere aqua solitos donec exiguum superesset
umoris. quin et e muria salsamentorum recoquitur
iterumque consumpto liquore ad naturam suam redit,
vulgo e menis incundissimus.

84 XLI. Marinorum maxume laudatur Cyprius a
Salamine, de stagnis Tarentinus ac Phrygius qui
Tattaeus vocatur. hi duo oculis utiles. e Cappa-
docia qui in laterculis adfertur cutis nitorem dicitur

1 arbor E Detlefsen, Mayhoff: carbo ceteri codd., vulg.

a Mayhoff takes this sentence as part of the last. It may
be a parenthesis.

6 The well attested carbo makes good sense, and it bears a
strong resemblance to arbor. The former is obviously an
easier reading, so perhaps Detlefsen and Mayhoff have chosen
the harder.

428

BOOK XXXI. xxxix. Si-xli. 84

which penetrates the soil, soaked as I believe it is,
by the Nile. Salt is also made by pouring water
from wells into salt pools. At Babylon the first con-
densation solidifies into a liquid bitumen like oil,
which is also used in lamps. When this is taken
away, salt is underneath. In Cappadocia too they
bring water into salt pools from wells and a spring.
In Chaonia there is a spring, from which they boil
water, and on cooling obtain a salt that is insipid and
not white. In the provinces of Gaul and Germany
they pour salt water on burning logs. XL. (In one
part of the provinces of Spain they drawr the brine
from wells and call it mima.a) The former indeed
think that the wood used also makes a difference.
The best is oak, for its pure ash by itself has the
properties of salt ; in some places hazel finds favour.
So when brine is poured on it even wood 6 turns into
salt. Whenever wood is used in its making salt is
dark. I find in Theophrastus that the Umbrians
were wont to boil down in water the ash of reeds and
rushes, until only a very little liquid remained.
Moreover, from the liquor of salted foods salt is
recovered by reboiling, and when evaporation is
complete its saline character is regained. It is
generally thought that the salt obtained from
sardine brine is the most pleasant.

XLI. Of sea salt the most in favour comes from Saits from
Salamis in Cyprus, of pool salt that from Tarentum locaiitLs.
and that from Phrygia which is called Tattaean.
The last two are useful for the eyes. The salt
imported from Cappadocia in little bricks c is said to
impart a gloss to the skin. But the salt I have said

e Littre has : " dans des vaisseaux de brique."

429

PLIXY: NATUKAL HISTOKY

facere. magis tamen extendit is quem Citium
appellavimus, itaque a partu ventrem eo cum melan-

85 thio inlinunt. salissimus sal qui siccissimus, suavissi-
mus omnium Tarentmus atque candidissimus est,1 de
cetero fragilis qui maxime candidus. pluvia dulcescit
omnis, suaviorem tamen rores faciunt, sed copiosum
aquilpnis flatus. austro non nascitur. flos salis non
fit nisi aquilonibus. in igni nec crepitat nec exilit
Tragasaeus neque Acanthius ab oppido appellatus,

86 nec ullius spuma aut 2 ramenta aut tenuis.3 Agri-
gentinus ignium patiens ex aqua exilit.4 sunt
et colorum differentiae. rubet Memphi, rufus est
circa Oxum, Centuripis purpureus, circa Gelam in
eadem Sicilia tanti splendoris ut imaginem recipiat.
in Cappadocia crocinus effoditur, tralucidus et
odoratissimus. ad medicinae usus antiqui Taren-
tinum maxime laudabant, ab hoc quemcumque e
marinis, ex eo genere spumeum praecipue, iumen-
torum vero et boum oculis Tragasaeum et Baeticum.

87 ad opsonium et cibum utilior quisquis facile liquescit,
item umidior, minorem enim amaritudinem habent,
ut Atticus et Euboicus. servandis carnibus aptior
acer et siccus, ut Megaricus. conditur etiam odori-
bus additis et pulmentarii vicem implet, excitans
aviditatem invitansque in omnibus cibis ita, ut sit

1 est Urlichs, Detlefsen: set Mayhoff: et codd.

2 aut at Er : aut ab Detlefsen : om. at ceterl codd.

3 ramenta aut tenuis ego : ramento tenuis Detlefsen : rameu-
tum tenuius Mayhoff: ramento aut tenuis codd.

1 igiiium patiens ex aqua exilit Detlefsen, Mayhoff, codd.
ignis impatiens atque exilit A\ C. Bailey.

a See § 74.

b See XIII. § 14 and XXXI. § 90.

c Tragasa and Acanthns.

43°

BOOK XXXI. xli. 84-87

comes from Citium a smooths the skin better, and so
after child-birth it is applied with melanthium to the
abdomen. The saltest salt is the driest, the most
agreeable and whitest of all is the Tarentine ; for the
rest, it is the whitest that is the most friable. All
salt is made sweet by rain water, more agreeable,
however, by dew, but plentiful by gusts of north
wind. It does not form under a south wind. Flower
of salt 6 forms only with north winds. Tragasaean
salt and Acanthian, so named after towns,c neither
crackles nor sputters in a fire, nor does froth d of any
salt, or scrapings, or powder. Salt of Agrigentum
submits to fire and sputters in water.e The colour
too of salt varies : blushing red at Memphis, tawnv
red near the Oxus, purple at Centuripae, it is of such
brightness near Gela (also in Sicily) that it reflects
an image. In Cappadocia salt is quarried of a
saffron colour, transparent, and very fragrant. For
medicinal purposes the ancients used to favour most
highly Tarentine salt, next, all kinds of sea salt, and
of these especially that from foam, while for the eyes
of draught animals and cattle salt of Tragasa and
Baetica. To season meats and foods the most useful other
one melts easily and is rather moist, for it is less mntUes-
bitter, such as that of Attica and Euboea. For
preserving meat the more suitable salt is sharp and
dry, like that of Megara. A conserve too is made
with fragrant additions, which is used as a relish,
creating and sharpening an appetite for every kind

d See § 74.

e K. C. Bailey^s emendation in Hermathena 1926 is con-
trarv to passages in Isodore (16. 2. 4 and 14. 6. 34), Solinus
{Polijist. 5. 18), and Augustine {De Civ. Dei 21. 5). He
suggests that either " Agrigentum salt " was lime, or that a
mistake occurred in Pliny's MSS. very early.

431

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

peculiaris ex eo intellectue inter innumera eondi-
88 menta eiborum item in mandendo quaesitus garo.1
quin et pecudes armentaque et iumenta sale maxime
sollieitantur ad pastus multum largiore lacte multo-
que gratiore etiam in caseo dote. ergo, Hercules,
vita humanior sine sale non quit degere,2 adeoque
necessarium elementum est uti transierit intellectus
ad voluptates animi quoque nimias.3 sales appel-
lantur, omnisque vitae lepos et summa hilaritas
laborumque requies non alio magis vocabulo constat.
80 honoribus etiam militiaeque interponitur salariis
inde dictis magna apud antiquos auctoritate, sicut
apparet ex nomine Salariae viae, quoniam illa salem
in Sabinos portari convenerat. Ancus Marcius rex
salis modios vi in congiario dedit populis et salinas
primus instituit. Yarro etiam pulmentarii vice usos
veteres auctor est, et salem cum pane esitasse eos
proverbio apparet. maxime tamen in sacris intelle-
gitur auctoritas, quando nulla conficiuntur sine mola
salsa.
90 XLII. Salinarum sinceritas summam fecit suam
differentiam quandam favillam salis quae levissima
ex eo est et candidissima. appellatur et flos salis in
totum diversa res umidiorisque naturae et crocei
coloris aut rufi, veluti rubigo salis, odore quoque

1 item in mandendo quaesitus garo Mayhoff: ciborum iu
mandeudo quaesitus garo Detlefsen : item E2 a : ita E1 :
iterum multi codd. : " locus adhtic corruptus " (Mayhoff).

2 degere codd. et edd. : degi coni. Mayhoff: degier coni.
Brakman.

3 nimias ego: eximias Mayhoff: nimia codd. : del. Detlefsen.

a The exact text is very uncertain, but the general scnse is
clear.

432

BOOK XXXI. xli. 87-xLii. 90

of food, so that in innumerable seasonings it is the
taste of salt that predominates, and it is looked for Vaiueof
when we eat garum.a Moreover sheep, cattle, and
draught animals are encouraged to pasture in
particular by salt ; the supply of milk is much more
copious, and there is even a far more pleasing quality
in the cheese. Therefore, Heaven knows, a civilized
life is impossible without salt, and so necessary is this
basic substance that its name is applied meta-
phorically even to intense mental pleasures. We
call them sales (wit) ; all the humour of life, its
supreme joyousness, and relaxation after toil, are
expressed by this word more than by any other. It
has a place in magistracies also and on service abroad,
from which comes the term " salary " (salt money) ; it
had great importance among the men of old, as is
clear from the name of the Salarian Way, since by it,
according to agreement, salt was imported to the
Sabines. King Ancus Marcius gave a largess to the
people of 6,000 bushels of salt, and was the first to
construct salt pools. Varro too is our authority that
the men of old used salt as a relish, and that they ate
salt with their bread is clear from a proverb.6 But
the clearest proof of its importance lies in the fact
that no sacrifice is carried out without the mola salsa
(salted meal).

XLII. Salt-pools have reached their highest de-
gree of puritv in what may be called embers of salt,
which is the lightest and whitest of its kind. " Flower
of salt " is also a name given to an entirely different
thing, with a moister nature and a saffron or red
colour, a kind of salt rust ; it has an unpleasant smell,

6 We do not know the proverb referred to, but several
suitable ones suggest themselves.

433

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

ingrato ceu gari dissentiens a sale, non modo a spuma.
Aegyptus invenit, videturque Nilo deferri. et fonti-

91 bus tamen quibusdam innatat. optimum ex eo quod
olei quandam pinguitudinem reddit. est enim
etiam in sale pinguitudo, quod miremur. adulteratur
autem tinguiturque rubrica aut plerumque testa trita,
qui fucus aqua deprehenditur diluente faeticium
colorem, cum verus ille non nisi oleo resolvatur et un-
guentarii propter colorem eo maxime utantur,
canitia in vasis summa est, media vero pars umidior.

92 ut diximus. floris natura aspera, excalfactoria,
stomacho inutilis, sudorem ciet, alvum solvit in vino
et aqua, acopis et zmecticis utilis. detrahit et ex
palpebris pilos. ima faecis concutiuntur, ut croci
color redeat. praeter haec etiamnum appellatur in
salinis salsugo, ab aliis salsilago, tota Hquida, a
marina aqua salsiore vi distans.

93 XLIII. Aliud etiamnum liquoris exquisiti genus,
quod garum vocavere, intestinis piscium ceterisque
quae abicienda essent sale maceratis, ut sit illa putres-
centium sanies. hoc olim conficiebatur ex pisce
quem Graeci garon vocabant. capite eius usto suffito

94 extrahi secundas monstrantes. nunc e scombro pisce
laudatissimum in Carthaginis Spartariae cetariis —
sociorum id appellatur — singulis milibus nummum

a See § 90. This whole chapter is confused. The first
sentence does not contain the term flos salis, although the et
of the second sentence implies that it does. This white salt is
apparently referred to in canitia . . . diximus, a sentence
placed in the middle of a description of a saffron or red salt.
It seems hopeless to attempt to emend, and the faulty struc-
ture may be due to Pliny himself. The sentence canitia . . .
diximus is probably an interpolation, and in any case hard to
understand.

434

BOOK XXXI. xlii. 90-xLin. 94

like that of garum, and is different from salt, not only
from foam salt. Egypt discovered it, and it appears
to be brought down by the Nile. It also however
floats on the surface of certain springs. The best
kind of it yields a sort of oily fat, for there is, sur-
prising as it may seem, a fat even in salt. It is
adulterated too and coloured by red ochre, or usually
by ground crockery ; this sham is detected by water,
which washes out the artificial colour, while the
genuine is only removed by oil, and perfumers use it
very commonly because of its colour. In vessels the
whiteness is seen on the surface, but the inner
part, as I have said,a is moister. The nature of
flower of salt is acrid, heating, bad for the stomach,
sudorific, aperient when taken in wine and water, and
useful for anodynes and detergents. It also removes
hair from eye-lids. The sediment is shaken up in
order to restore the saffron colour. Besides these
salines there is also what is called at the salt-pools
salpugo, or sometimes salsilago. It is entirely liquid,
differing from sea brine by its more salty character.

XLIII. There is yet another kind of choice liquor, Gamm.
called garum, consisting of the guts of fish and the
other parts that would otherwise be considered refuse ;
these are soaked in salt, so that garum is really liquor
from the putrefaction of these matters. Once this
used to be made from a fish that the Greeks called
garos ; they shewed that by fumigation with its burn-
ing head the after-birth was brought away. Today
the most popular garum is made from the scomber b
in the fisheries of Carthago Spartaria c — it is called
garum of the allies — one thousand sesterces being

6 Probably the mackerel.

e " Carthago where broom grows," Xew Carthage.

435

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

permutantibus congios fere binos. nec liquor ullus
paene praeter unguenta maiore in pretio esse coepit,
nobilitatis etiam gentibus. scombros quidem et
Mauretania Baeticaeque Carteia ex oceano intrantes
capiunt ad nihil aliud utiles. laudantur et Clazo-
menae garo Pompeique et Leptis, sicut muria Anti-
polis ac Thuri, iam vero et Delmatia.

95 XLIV. Yitium huius est allex atque imperfecta
nec colata faex. coepit tamen et privatim ex
inutili pisciculo minimoque confici. apuam nostri,
aphyen Graeci vocant, quoniam is pisciculus e pluvia
nascitur. Foroiulienses piscem ex quo faciunt lupum
appellant. transiit deinde in luxuriam, creveruntque
genera ad infinitum, sicuti garum ad colorem mulsi
veteris adeoque suavitatem dilutum x ut bibi possit.
aliud vero . . .2 castimoniarum superstitioni etiam
sacrisque Iudaeis dicatum, quod fit e piscibus squama
carentibus. sic allex pervenit ad ostreas, echinos,
urticas maris, mullorum iocinera, innumerisque
generibus ad saporis gulae coepit sal tabescere.

96 haec obiter indicata sint desideriis vitae, et ipsa tamen
non nullius usus in medendo. namque et allece
scabies pecoris sanatur infusa per cutem incisam, et
contra canis morsus draconisve marini prodest, in

97 linteolis autem concerptis inponitur. Et garo am-
busta recentia sanantur, si quis infundat ac non
nominet garum. contra canum quoque morsus

1 suavitatem dilutum Mayhoff: dilutam suavitatem codd.
- ad codd. : est Mayhoff: post ad lacunam indicat Detlefsen.

a The congius was nearly six pint.s.

b As allex is feminine, and aliud neuter, it seems best to
suppose that there is a lacuna here, but Pliny may be thinking
of garum, to which he has just reverted.

436

BOOK XXXI. xliii. 94-xLiv. 97

exchanged for about two congii a of the fish. Scarcely
any other liquid except unguents has come to be
more highly valued, bringing fame even to the
nations that make it. The scomber is caught also in
Mauretania and at Carteia in Baetica ; the scomber
enters the Mediterranean from the Atlantic, but it
is used only for making garum. Clazomenae too is
famous for garum, and so are Pompeii and Leptis,
just as Antipolis and Thurii are for muria, and today
too also Delmatia.

XLIV. Allex is sediment of garum, the dregs, AUex.
neither whole nor strained. It has, however, also
begun to be made separately from a tiny fish, other-
wise of no use. The Romans call it apua, the Greeks
aphye, because this tiny fish is bred out of rain. The
people of Forum Julii call lupus (wolf) the fish from
which they make garum. Then allex became a
luxury, and its various kinds have come to be in-
numerable ; garum for instance has been blended to
the colour of old honey wine, and to a taste so pleasant
that it can be drunk. But another kind <(of garum) b
is devoted to superstitious sex-abstinence and Jewish
rites, and is made from fish without scales. Thus
allex has come to be made from oysters, sea urchins,
sea anemones, and mullet's liver, and salt to be
corrupted in numberless ways so as to suit all palates.
These incidental remarks must suffice for the luxur-
ious tastes of civilized man. Allex however itself is of
some use in healing. For allex both cures itch in
sheep, being poured into an incision in the skin, and
is a good antidote for the bites of dog or sea draco ;
it is applied on pieces of lint. By garum too are
fresh burns healed, if it is poured over them without
mentioning garum. It is also good for dog-bites and

437

PLINV: NATURAL HISTOHV

prodest maximeque erocodili et ulceribus quae ser-
punt aut sordidis. oris quoque et aurium ulceribus
aut doloribus mirifice prodest. muria quoque sive
illa salsugo spissat, mordet, extenuat, siccat, dysin-
tericis utilis, etiam si nome intestina corripit, ischia-
dicis, coeliacis veteribus infunditur. fotu quoque
apud mediterraneos aquae marinae vicem pensat.

98 XLV. Salis natura per se ignea est et inimica
ignibus, fugiens eos, omnia erodens, corpora vero
adstringens, siccans, adligans, defuncta etiam a
putrescendi tabe * vindicans, ut durent ea per saecula,
in medendo vero mordens, adurens, repurgans, ex-
tenuans, dissolvens, stomacho tantum inutilis, prae-
terquam ad excitandam aviditatem. adversus ser-
pentium morsus cum origano, melle, hysopo, contra
cerasten cum origano et cedria 2 aut pice aut melle.

99 auxiliatur contra scolopendras ex aceto potus, ad-
versus scorpionum ictus cum quarta parte lini seminis
ex oleo vel aceto inlitus, adversus crabrones vero et
vespas similiaque ex aceto, ad heterocranias capitis-
que ulcera et pusulas papulasve et incipientes verru-
cas cum sebo vitulino, item 3 oculorum remediis et
ad excrescentes ibi carnes totiusque corporis pterygia.
sed in oculis peculiariter. ob id collyriis emplastrisque
additus — ad haec maxime probatur Tattaeus aut

100 Caunites — ex ictu vero suffusis cruore oculis suggilla-
tisque cum murrae pari pondere ac melle aut cum

1 tabe lanus: tabo Detlefsen: ta V : to R : ita E WtZflN

2 cedria Hermolaus Barbarus : cedro codd.

3 Post itera velit in addere Mayhoff.

a See § 92. * Horned viper.

438

BOOK XXXI. xliv. 97-xLv. ioo

especially those of the crocodile, and for spreading or
foul ulcers. For ulcers too or pains in mouth or ears
it is wonderfully good. Muria too or the salsugo I
spoke of ° is astringent, biting, reducing and drying,
useful for dysentery, even if there is ulceration of the
bowels. It is injected for sciatica and chronic
coeliac disease. Among inland peoples it also takes
the place of sea water for fomentations.

XLV. The nature of salt is of itself fiery, and yet UseofsaJt
it is hostile to fires, fleeing from them, corroding all m
things, but astringent to the body, drying it and
binding, preserving corpses also from corruption so
that they last for ages; in medicine however it is
mordent, caustic, cleansing, reducing, and resolvent,
injurious only to the stomach except in so far as it
stimulates the appetite. For the bites of serpents it
is used with origanum, honey, and hyssop, for the
cerastes b with origanum and cedar resin, or pitch, or
honey. It is helpful for bite of the scolopendra if
taken internally with vinegar, for scorpion stings if
applied in oil or vinegar with a fourth part of linseed,
but for hornets, wasps, and similar creatures, in
vinegar only. for migraine, ulcers on the head, blisters,
pimples, and incipient warts, with veal suet. It is
also used in eye remedies, for excrescences of flesh
there, and for pterygia c anywhere on the body, but
especially on the eyes, and so it is an ingredient of eye
salves and plasters : for these purposes Tattaean salt
or that of Caunus is the most approved. For eyes
bloodshot from a blow, however, and for bruised eyes,
it is used with an equal weight of myrrh and with
honey, or with hyssop in warm water. and the eyes

c Either (a) whitlows or (b) inflammatory swellings of the
eye.

439

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

hysopo ex aqua calida, utque foveantur salsugine.
ad haec Hispaniensis eligitur, contraque suffusiones
oculorum cum lacte in coticulis teritur, privatim sug-
gillationibus in linteolo involutus crebroque ex aqua
ferventi inpositus.ulceribus oris manantibus in linteolo
concerpto, gingivarum tumori infricatus et contra

101 scabritiem linguae fractus comminutusque. aiunt
dentes non erodi nec putrescere, si quis cotidie mane
ieiunus salem contineat sub lingua donec liquescat.
lepras idem et furunculos et lichenas et psoras emen-
dat cum passa uva exempto eius ligno et sebo bubulo
atque origano ac fermento vel pane — maxime
Thebaicus ad haec et pruritus eligitur — tonsillis et
uvis cum melle prodest.1 quicumque ad anginas,
hoc amplius cum oleo et aceto eodem tempore extra

102 faucibus inlitus cum pice liquida. emollit et alvum
vino mixto,innoxie2 et taenearum genera pellit in vino
potus. aestus balnearum convalescentes ut tolerare
possint linguae subditus praestat. nervorum dolorem,
maxime circa umeros et renes, in saccis aqua ferventi
crebro candefactus levat, colum torminaque et cox-
arum dolores potus et in isdem saccis inpositus
candens,podagras cum farina ex melle et oleo tritus,
ibi maxime usurpanda observatione quae totis cor-
poribus nihil esse utilius sale et sole dixit. itaque 3
cornea videmus corpora piscatorum. sed hoc prae-

103 cipuum dicatur 4 in podagris. tollit et clavos pedum.
item perniones. ambustis ex oleo inponitur aut com-

1 Non post prodest sed quicumque comma Mayhoff.

2 innoxie dT Mayhoff: innoxio V Detlefsen: innoxia RE.

3 itaque dTEr: utique coni. lantt*.

4 dicatur codd. : iudicatur Mayhoff.

a See § 92.
440

BOOK XXXI. xlv. 100-103

should be fomented with salsugo.a For these pur-
poses Spanish salt is chosen. For cataract it is
ground in a little stone mortar with milk ; for bruises
a specific is salt wrapped in linen, dipped frequently
in boiling water, and applied ; for running ulcers in
the mouth it is applied in lint ; it is rubbed on swollen
gums, and for roughness of the tongue it is broken and
ground up fine. They say that teeth neither rot nor
decay if one daily while fasting in the morning keeps
a piece of salt under the tongue until it melts. It
also cures leprous sores, boils, lichen and psoriasis,
used with stoned raisons, beef suet, origanum, and
leaven or bread ; for these purposes and for pruritus
Theban salt is mostly chosen. For diseased tonsils
and uvula salt with honey is beneficial. For quinsy
any salt is good, but all the more when oil and vinegar
are added, while at the same time salt and liquid
pitch are applied externally to the throat. Mixed
with wine salt also softens the belly, and taken
in wine drives out harmlessly the various kinds of
worms. Placed under the tongue salt enables con-
valescents to endure the heat of the bath. Pains of
the sinews, especially in the region of the shoulders
and kidneys, are relieved by salt in bags, kept hot
by frequent dipping into boiling water; colitis,
griping and sciatica by taking salt in drink and by
hot applications in the same kind of bags ; gout by
salt pounded with flour, honey, and oil. Herein is
especially applicable the saying that for the whole
body nothing is more beneficial than salt and sun.
Accordingly we see that the bodies of fishermen are
horny, but the above remark should be applied
especially to gout. It also removes corns on the
feet and chilblains. It is applied to burns in oil or

441

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

manducatus pusulasque reprimit, ignibus vero sacris
ulceribusque quae serpant ex aceto aut hysopo,
carcinomatis eum uva taminia, phagedaenis ulcerum
tostus cum farina hordei. superinposito linteolo
madente vino. morbo regio laborantes, donec sudent
ad ignem, contra pruritus quos sentiunt ex oleo et

104 aceto infricatus iuvat, fatigatos ex oleo. multi et
hvdropicos sale curavere fervoresque febrium cum
oleo perunxere et tussim veterem linctu eius dis-
cussere, clysteribus infudere ischiadicis, ulcerum
excrescentibus vel putrescentibus inposuere, croco-
dilorum morsibus ex aceto in linteolis ita ut battue-
rentur ante ulcera. bibitur et contra opium ex aceto
mulso, luxatis inponitur cum farina et melle, item

105 extuberationibus. dentium dolori cum aceto fotus
et inlitus cum resina prodest. ad omnia autem
spuma salis iucundior utiliorque. sed quicumque
sal acopis additur ad excalfactiones, item zmegmatis
ad extendendam * cutem levandamque. pecorum
quoque scabiem et boum inlitus tollit, daturque lin-
gendus et oculis iumentorum inspuitur. haec de sale
dicta sint.

106 XLVI. Non est differenda et nitri natura, non
multum a sale distans et eo diligentius dicenda, quia
palam est medicos qui de eo scripserunt ignorasse
naturam nec quemquam Theophrasto diligentius
tradidisse. exiguum fit apud Mcdos canescentibus

1 exiendendam. E r wdg. : extenuendam VR : extenuandam
<1T.

a Pliny seems to have confused the verbs fiaTnui (Dios-
corides) and tvtttco.
442

BOOK XXXI. xlv. 103 -xlvi. 106

chewed. It checks blisters, but for erysipelas and
for creeping ulcers vinegar or hyssop is added, for
carcinomata taminian grapes, while for phagedaenic
ulcers it is roasted with barley meal, a linen cloth
being placed 011 top, soaked in wine. Sufferers from
jaundice are helped by rubbing with salt, oil, and
vinegar before a fire until they sweat : this relieves
the itching caused by this disease. Oil should be
used in cases of fatigue. Many have treated dropsy
too with salt, rubbed with salt and oil hot feverish
patients, stayed a chronic cough by licking it, injected
salt enemas into sufferers from sciatica, applied it to
swollen or festering ulcers, and treated crocodile bites
by salt and vinegar in lint cloths, taking care first to
flog a the sores with them. Salt is taken in oxymel
for poisoning by poppy-juice, with flour and honey
it is applied to dislocations, and also to tumours.
Fomenting with salt and vinegar, or an application of
salt and resin, is good for tooth-ache. But for all
purposes foam of salt is more pleasant and more
beneficial. Salt however of any kind is added to
anodynes for a warming effect, also to detergents for
stretching and smoothing the skin. An application
of salt removes itch-scab in sheep and oxen ; salt is
also given to be licked, and it is spit into the eyes of
draught animals. This must suffice for my account
of salt.

XLVI. I must not put off describing the character Soda.
of soda, which is very similar to salt ; a more careful
account must be given because it is plain that the
physicians who have written about it were ignorant
of its character, and that nobody has given a more
careful description than Theophrastus. A little is
formed in Media in valleys that are white through

443

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

siccitate convallibus, quod vocant halmyraga, minus
etiam in Thracia iuxta Philippos, sordidum terra quod

107 appellant agrium. nam quercu cremata numquam
multum factitatum est et iam pridem in totum
omissum. aquae vero nitrosae plurimis in locis rep-
periuntur, sed sine viribus densandi. optimum copio-
sumque in Clitis * Macedoniae, quod vocant Chales-
tricum, candidum purumque, proximum sali. lacus
est nitrosus exiliente e medio dulci fonticulo. ibi fit
nitrum circa canis ortum novenis diebus totidemque

108 cessat ac rursus innatat et deinde cessat. quo
apparet soli naturam esse quae gignat, quoniam
compertum est nec soles proficere quicquam, cum
cesset, nec imbres. mirum et illud, scatebra fonticuli
semper emicante lacum neque augeri neque emuere.
his autem diebus quibus gignitur si fuere imbres,
salsius nitrum faciunt, aquilones deterius, quia vali-

109 dius commovent limum. et hoc quidem nascitur,
in Aegypto autem conficitur multo abundantius,
sed deterius. nam fuscum lapidosumque est. fit
paene eodem modo quo sal, nisi quod salinis mare
infundunt, Nilum autem 2 nitrariis. hae y cedente y
Nilo 3 siccantur, | decedente f madent suco nitri XL

1 in Clitis] coni. inclutis (aquis) Mayhoff.

- autem E : auteni mo VRd : autumno Mayhoff.

9 Nilo . . . decedente om. VR*dT: accedente Xilo rigan-
tur, decedente Mayhoff: excedente Nilo siccantur, recedente
Detlefsen: cedente codd.: decedente (-tem E) Er: uncos ego
posui.

a I.e. " wild soda."

b MayhofFs guess makes an adjective (inclutis) of " in
Clitis," meaning " famous."

c A locus nonduni *<in<ih>s. From the next sentence it is
cleai llial thc flow into the beds was controlled, so that it
appears that only the falling Nile was admitted. This would

444

BOOK XXXI. xlvi. 106-109

drought; they call it halmyrax. It is also found
in Thrace near Philippi, but in less quantities and
contaminated with earth ; it is called agrium.a But
soda from burnt oak-wood was never made in large
quantities, and the method has long been altogether
abandoned. Alkaline water, however, is found in
very many places, but the soda is not concentrated
enough to solidify. At Clitae b in Macedonia is
found in abundance the best, called soda of Chalestra,
white and pure, very like salt. There is an alkaline
lake there with a little spring of fresh water rising
up in the centre. Soda forms in it about the rising
of the Dog-star for nine days, ceases for nine days,
comes to the top again and then ceases. This shows
that it is the character of the soil that produces soda,
since it has been discovered that, when it ceases,
neither sunshine is of any help at all nor yet rain.
Another wonderful thing about the lake is that
although the spring is always bubbling up it neither
gets larger nor overflows. But if, on those days on
which soda forms, has been rain, it makes the soda
more salty, while north winds on those days, by
stirring up the mud too vigorously, makes it inferior.
This soda is natural, but in Egypt it is made arti-
ficially, in much greater abundance but of inferior
quality, for it is dark and stony. It is made in
almost the same manner as is salt, except that they
pour sea-water into the salt-beds but the Nile into
the soda-beds. The latter f as the Nile rises become
dry ; c as it falls | they are moist with liquid soda for

require accedente and decedente. Mayhoif conjectured accedente,
but read rigantur for siccantur, because he held that the rising
Nile filled the beds. It is a pity that VRdT have a hiatus here,
for the missing words might have thrown light on the difficulty.

445

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

diebus continuis, non ut in Macedonia statis.1 si
etiam imbres adfuerunt, minus ex flumine addunt.
statimque ut densari coeptum est, rapitur, ne resolva-
tur in nitrariis. sic 2 quoque olei natura intcrvenit,
ad scabiem animalium utilis. ipsum autem conditum

110 in acervis durat. mirum in lacu Ascanio et quibus-
dam circa Chalcida fontibus summas aquas dulces
esse potarique, inferiores nitrosas. in nitro optimum
quod tenuissimum, et ideo spuma melior, ad aliqua
tamen sordidum, tamquam ad infieiendas purpuras
tincturasque omnes. magnus et vitro usus, qui

111 dicetur suo loco. nitrariae Aegypti circa Naucra-
tim et Memphin tantum solebant esse, circa Memphin
deteriores. nam et lapidescit ibi in acervis, multique
sunt cumuli ea de causa saxei. faciunt ex his vasa,
nec non et frequenter liquatum cum sulpure
coquentes. in corporibus 3 quoque quae4 inveterari
volunt illo nitro utuntur. sunt ibi nitrariae in quibus

112 et rufum exit a colore terrae. spumam nitri, quae
maxime laudatur, antiqui negabant fieri nisi cum ros
cecidisset praegnantibus nitrariis, sed nondum pari-
entibus. itaque non fieri incitatis, etiamsi caderet.

1 13 alii acervorum fermento gigni existimavere. proxima
aetas medicorum aphronitrum tradidit in Asia colligi

1 statis codd. : cessantis coni. Mayhoff.

2 sic codd. : hic vet. Dal., Mayhoff.

3 corporibus coni. K. C. Bailey, Hermathena 1926 : carnibua
Ianus, Detlefsen, Mayhoff: carbonibus codd.

4 quae Bailey: quas codd.

a Or, with the reading hic, " here.
446

BOOK XXXI. xlvi. 109-113

forty days on end, and not as in Macedonia during
fixed periods. If rain also has fallen, they add less
river water, and gather at once the soda that has
begun to solidify, lest it should melt back into the
soda-bed. Thus a too oily matter forms among the
soda, useful for itch-scab on animals. Soda however,
stored in heaps, lasts a long time. A wonder of
Lake Ascanius and of certain springs around Chalcis
is that the surface water is sweet and drinkable but
underneath is alkaline. Of soda the best is the
finest, and therefore froth of soda is superior, but
for some purposes the impure is good, for example
colouring purple cloths and all kinds of dyeing.
Soda is of great use in the making of glass, as will be
described in its proper place.6 The soda-beds of
Egypt used to be confined to the regions around
Naucratis and Memphis, the beds around Memphis
being inferior. For the soda becomes stone-like in
heaps there, and many of the soda piles there are for
the same reason quite rocky. From these they make
vessels, and frequently by baking melted soda with
sulphur. For the bodies too that they wish to embalm
this is the soda they use. In this region are soda-beds
from which red soda also is taken owing to the colour
of the earth. Foam of soda, which is very highly
prized, the ancients said was formed only when dew
had fallen on beds teeming with soda but not yet
bringing it forth ; accordingly, even if dew fell, soda
did not form on beds in agitated action. Others have
thought that foam is produced by fermentation of
the heaps. The last generation of physicians said
that in Asia was gathered aphronitrum c oozing in

6 XXXVI. § 193.

c A Greek word meaning " soda foam."

PLIXY. NATURAL HISTORY

in speluncis mollibus * destillans — specus eos colli-
gas 2 vocant — dein siccant sole. optimum putatur
Lvdium ; probatio, ut sit minime ponderosum et
maxime fricabile, colore paene purpureo. hoc in
pastillis adfertur, Aegyptium in vasis picatis,3 ne
liquescat. vasa quoque ea sole inarescentia per-

114 ficiuntur. nitri probatio, ut sit tenuissimum et
quam maxime spongeosum fistulosumque. adul-
teratur in Aegypto calce, deprehenditur gustu.
sincerum enim statim resolvitur, adulteratum calce
pungit et asperum 4 reddit odorem vehementer.
uritur in testa opertum ne exultet, alias igni non
exilit nitrum, nihilque gignit aut alit, cum in salinis
herbae gignantur et in mari tot animalia, tantum algae.

115 sed maiorem esse acrimoniam nitri apparet non hoc
tantum argumento sed et illo quod nitrariae calcia-
menta protinus consumunt, alias salubres oculorum-
que claritati utiles. in nitrariis non lippiunt. ulcera
allata eo celerrime sanantur, ibi facta tarde. ciet et
sudores cum oleo perunctis corpusque emollit. in
pane salis vice utuntur Chalestraeo, ad raphanos
Aegyptio, teneriores eos facit, sed obsonia alba et
deteriora, olera viridiora. in medicina autem cal-
facit, extenuat, mordet, spissat, siccat, exulcerat,

1 mollibus VRdTf : canalibus Detlefsen : molibus Gelenius,
Mayhoff, qui etiam nobilibus vel madidis coni.

2 coiligas (-gans E1) codd., Mayhoff: Corycias Detlefsen:
dlii alia.

3 picatis d vulg., Mayhoff: spissatum Detlefsen: spissatis
RE.

4 asperum cod. a, Detlefsen: aspersum d vulg. Mayhoff:
aspersu VRf.

a Usually emended. But the word mollis may refer to a
cave with soft sides and floor, through which soda might ooze.

1 This word is probablv corrupt.
448

BOOK XXXI. xlvi. 113-115

soft a caves — they are called colligae b — and then dried
in the sun. The best is thought to be Lydian. The
tests are that it should be the least heavy and the
most friable, and of an almost purple colour. The
last kind is imported in lozenges, but the Egyptian in
vessels lined with pitch, lest it melt. These vessels
too are finished off by being dried in the sun. The
tests of soda are that it should be very fine and as
spongy and full of holes as possible. In Egypt it is
adulterated with lime, which is detected by the taste ;
for pure soda melts at once, but adulterated soda
stings because of the lime, and gives out a strong,
bitter c odour. It is burnt in an earthen jar with a
lid, lest it should crackle out; otherwise soda does
not crackle in fire ; it produces nothing and nourishes
nothing, whereas in salt-pits grow plants, and in the
sea so many animals and so much sea-weed.rf But
that the pungency of soda is greater is shown not only
by this evidence but also by the fact that soda-beds
at once consume shoes, but are otherwise healthful
and good for clearness of vision. In the soda-beds
nobody has ophthalmia ; sores brought there heal
very quickly, but those that form there heal slowly.
Soda and oil also make to sweat those who are
rubbed with the mixture, which softens the flesh.
They use Chalestran soda for bread instead of salt,
Egyptian soda for radishes ; it makes them more
tender, but meats white and inferior and vegetables
greener. In medicine soda warms, alleviates, stings,
braces, dries, and clears away e ulcers, and is useful

c With the reading aspersum: " when sprinkled it has a
strong smell."

d Or: " only sea-weeds."

e See XXVII. § 22 and note on XXVII. § 105.

449

VOL. VIII. Q

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

1 16 utile his quae evocanda sint aut discutienda et lenius
mordenda atque extenuanda, sicut in papulis pusulis-
que. quidam in hoc usu accensum vino austero
restingunt atque ita trito in balneis utuntur sine oleo.
sudores nimios inhibet cum iride arida adiecto oleo
viridi, extenuat et cicatrices oculorum et scabritias
genarum cum fico inlitum aut decoctum in passo ad
dimidias partes,item contra argema,oculorum ungues.

117 decoctum cum passo in * mali Punici calyce adiuvat
claritatem visus cum melle inunctum. prodest
dentium dolori ex vino, si cum pipere colluantur;
item cum porro decoctum nigrescentes dentes,
crematum dentrifricio, ad colorem reducit. capitis
animalia et lendes necat cum Samia terra inlitum ex
oleo. auribus purulentis vino liquatum infunditur,
sordes eiusdem partis erodit ex aceto, sonitus et tin-

118 nitus discutit siccum additum. vitiligines albas cum
creta Cimolia aequo pondere ex aceto in sole inlitum
emendat. furunculos admixtum resinae extrahit, aut2
cum uva alba passa nucleis eius simul tritis. testium
inflammationi occurrit, item eruptionibus pituitae
in toto corpore cum axungia, contraque canis morsus
addita et resina f inlitis j.3 cum aceto inlinitur. sic
et serpentium morsibus, phagedaenis et ulceribus
quae serpunt aut putrescunt cum calce ex aceto.
hydropicis cum fico tusum datur inliniturque. discu-

1 cum passo in codd. : in passo cum Mayhoff.

2 extrahit aut codd. : extrahit Mayhoff.

:i inlitis VVdR Mayhoff: initis E r Detlefsen: uncos ego
addidi.

a With Mayhoff 's reading : " in raisin wine with pome-
granate rind."

6 In this part at any rate of Pliny the first words of each
clause seem to indicate the complaint. This fact should, 1

45°

BOOK XXXI. xlvi. 116-118

for conditions where there must be withdrawal, dis-
persal, and gentle stinging and alleviation, as with
pimples and blisters. Some for this purpose set it
on fire and put it out with a dry wine, and use it so
prepared and ground in the bath without oil.
Excessive sweats are checked by soda with dried iris
and the addition of green oil ; it also improves scars
on the eyes and roughness of the lids if applied with
fig, or boiled down to one half in raisin wine, a
preparation too which is used for white ulcers and
inflamed swellings on the eyes. Boiled down with
raisin wine in a pomegranate rind,° and applied with
honey, it improves vision. Soda is good for tooth-
ache if a mouth-wash is made by adding pepper and
wine. Boiled down too with leek, and burnt to
make a dentifrice, it restores the colour of blackening
teeth. Insects and nits on the head it kills if applied
in oil with Samian earth. Dissolved in wine it is
poured into purulent ears ; wax in the same organ it
eats away in vinegar ; noises and singing it stops if
added dry. Applied in sunshine with vinegar and
an equal weight of Cimolian chalk it cures the white
kinds of psoriasis. It brings to a head boils, either
mixed with resin or with white raisins, the pips being
ground up with them. With axle-grease it combats
inflammation of the testicles, and also outbursts of
phlegm on the whole body ; it is applied with vinegar,
resin being added, to dog-bites. This preparation
is used for snake bites ; for phagedaenic, creeping,
or festering ulcers, with lime and vinegar ; for
dropsy it is pounded with figs and administered by
the mouth and externally.6 Griping pains too it

think, determine the punctuation. Editors differ widely in
this.

451

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

119 tit et tormina, si decoctum bibatur pondere drachmae
cum ruta vel aneto vel cumino. reficit lassitudines cum
oleo et aceto perunctorum, et contra algores horrores-
que prodest manibus pedibusque confricatis cum
oleo. conprimit et pruritus suffusorum felle, maxime
cum aceto in sudore datum.1 succurrit et venenis
fungorum ex posca potum aut, si buprestis hausta sit,
ex aqua, vomitionesque evocat. his qui sanguinem

120 tauri biberint cum lasere datur. in facie quoque
exulcerationes sanat cum melle et lacte bubulo.
ambustis tostum donec nigrescat tritumque inlinitur.
infunditur f urceis f 2 et renium dolori aut rigori
corporum nervorumve doloribus. paralysi in lingua
cum pane inponitur. suspiriosis in tisana sumitur.

121 tussim veterem sanat flore, mixto galbano resinae
terebinthinae, pari pondere omnium ita, ut fabae
magnitudo devoretur. coquitur dilutumque postea
cum pice liquida sorbendum in angina datur. flos
eius cum oleo cypreo et articulorum doloribus in sole
iucundus est. regium quoque morbum extenuat in
potione vini et inflationes discutit, sanguinis pro-
fluvium e naribus sistit ex ferventi aqua vapore naribus

122 rapto. porriginem alumine permixto tollit, alarum
virus ex aqua cottidiano fotu, ulcera ex pituita nata
cera permixtum, quo genere nervis quoque prodest.
coeliacis infunditur. perungui ante accessiones

1 in sudore datum Sillig: instillatum Mayhojf: insudatum

codd.

2 urceis codd. : ventris Caesarius > vesicae Mayhoff. War-
mington umeris coni.

a The urceis of all the MSS. seems corrupt, and no proposed
emendation explains the cause of the corruption. MayhofFs
vesicae is the word usually associated in Pliny with renium.

452

BOOK XXXI. xlvi. 1 19-122

allays if there is taken a drachma by weight boiled
down with rue or dill or cummin. The pains of
fatigue are removed by rubbing all over with soda,
oil, and vinegar, while for chills and shivers it is of
advantage to rub the hands and feet thoroughly
with soda and oil. It also checks the itch of jaundice,
especially when administered with vinegar while the
patient is sweating. Taken in vinegar and water
soda is beneficial against the poisons of fungi ; if a
buprestris has been swallowed it is taken in water ;
it is also a good emetic. It is given in laser to those
who have drunk bull's blood. Ulcerations also on
the face it heals with honey and cow's milk. It is
applied to burns roasted until it turns black and
crushed to powder. It is injected for pain in the
. . . a and kidneys, or for rigors of the body, or for
pains of the sinews. For paralysis of the tongue it
is applied there with bread, and for asthma it is
taken in barley gruel. Chronic cough is cured by
flower of soda with galbanum mixed with terebrinth
resin, all equal in weight, but the piece to be swal-
lowed must be of the size of a bean. Soda, boiled
and then combined with liquid pitch, is given to be
swallowed by patients with quinsy. Flower of soda
with oil of cyprus is also soothing if applied in the sun
for pains in the joints. Jaundice also it alleviates
taken in a draught of wine; this remedy relieves
rlatulence. It checks epistaxis if inhaled in the steam
from boiling water. By soda mixed with alum is
removed scurf, rank smell of the armpits by daily
fomentation with soda and water, sores due to nose-
running by soda mixed with wax — a mixture also
good for the sinews — and it is injected for the coeliac
affection. Many have prescribed complete rubbing

453

PLINY: XATURAL HISTORY

frigidas nitro et oleo multi praecepere, sicut adversus
iepras, lentigines; podagris in balneis uti. solia nitri
prosunl atrophis, opisthotonis, tetanis. sal nitrinn
sulpuri eoncoctum in lapidem vcrtitur.

123 XLYIL Spongearum genera diximus in naturis
aquatilium marinorum. quidam ita distingunt : alias
ex his mares tenui fistula spissioresque, persorbentes,
quae et tinguntur in deliciis, aliquando et purpura ;
alias feminas maioribus fistulis ac perpetuis ; mari-
bus l alias duriores, quas appellant tragos, tenuis-
simis fistulis atque densissimis. candidae cura fiunt :
e mollissimis recentes per aestatem tinctae salis
spuma ad lunam et pruinas sternuntur inversae, hoc
est qua parte adhaesere, ut candorem bibant. animal

124 esse docuimus, etiam cruore inhaerente. aliqui
narrant et auditu regi eas contrahique ad sonum,
exprimentes abundantiam umoris, nec avelli petris
posse, ideo abscidi ac saniem remittere. quin et eas 2
quae ab aquilone sint genitae praeferunt ceteris, nec
usquam diutius durare spiritum medici adfirmant.
sic et prodesse corporibus, quia nostro suum misceant,
et ideo magis recentes magisque umidas, sed minus

1 maribus codd.: e maribus Hermolaus Barbarus: in mari-
bus Sillig.

2 Ante eas lacunam indicat Mayhoff, qui fere abscisas
aliquamdiu vivere excidisse putat.

a Or: " the undernourished."

6 For nitrum see Additional Note, p. 568.

< Book IX. § 148.

d The adjective perpetuus in this context is difficult. It
could mean "never closed," referring to sponges growing in
the sea, or " connected with one another," used of the sponges
of commerce. See Additional Note, p. 567.

e Or: e (or in) maribus: " of the males, the harder."

f A Greek word, Tpdyot, " goats." ° See IX. § 149.

454

BOOK XXXI. xlvi. 122-xlvii. 124

with soda and oil before the chills of fever come on,
and so to use it for leprous sores and freckles ; and
they prescribe its use in the bath for gouty people.
Soda baths are good for consumptives,a and for the
victims of opisthotonus and other forms of tetanus.
Salt and soda, when heated with sulphur, turn to stone.6

XLVII. Of the kinds of sponges I have spoken c Sponges.
when describing the nature of marine creatures.
Certain authorities classify them thus : some sponges,
the males, have little holes, and are more compact
and verv absorbent; they are also dyed for the
luxurious, sometimes even with purple ; others, the
females, have larger and uninterrupted d holes ;
others, harder e than the males, called tragi/ have
very small holes that are very close together.
Sponges are whitened artificially. Fresh sponges,
of the softest kind, are soaked in foam of salt through-
out the summer, and then laid open to the moon and
hoar-frosts upside down, that is, with the side upper-
most that adhered to the rocks, so that they may
drink in whiteness. I have said 0 that sponges are
animal, being even lined with a coating of blood.
Some also declare that they are guided by a sense of
hearing, and contract at a noise, sending out a great
quantity of moisture; that they cannot be torn
from the rocks, and therefore are cut off, bleeding
sanies. Moreover, those h growing exposed to the
north-east they prefer to others, and physicians
declare that nowhere else does their breath last for
a longer time. Such too, they say, are beneficial to
the human body, because they mix their breath witli

* The lacuna supposed by Mayhoff to be here he would fill
up by words roughly meaning: " that cut off they live for a
considerable time."

455

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

in calida aqua minusque unctas aut unctis corporibus
inpositas et spissas minus adhaerescere.1 mollis-

125 simum genus earum penicilli. oculorum tumores se-
dant ex mulso inpositi,iidem abstergendae lippitudini,
utilissime ex aqua ; tenuissimos esse mollissimosque
oportet. inponuntur et spongeae ipsae epiphoris ex
posca et aceto calido ad capitis dolores. de cetero
recentes discutiunt, mitigant, molliunt, veteres non
glutinant vulnera. usus earum ad abstergenda,
fovenda, operienda a fotu, dum aliud inponatur.

126 ulcera quoque umida et senilia inpositae siccant.
fracturae et vulnera spongeis utilissime foventur.
sanguis rapitur in secando, ut curatio perspiei possit.
et ipsae vulnerum inflammationibus inponuntur nunc
siccae, nunc aceto adspersae nunc vino, nunc ex aqua
frigida ; ex aqua vero caelesti inpositae secta recentia

127 non patiuntur intumescere. inponuntur et integris
partibus, sed fluctione occulta laborantibus quae dis-
cutienda sit, et his quae apostemata vocant melle
decocto perunctis, item articulis alias aceto salso
madidae, alias e posca; si ferveat impetus, ex

1 adhaerescere E r vul>j. : adhaerescente uut adhaerescentem
ceteri codd.: adhaerescentes Mayhoff.

456

BOOK XXXI. xlvii. 124-127

ours ; therefbre fresh sponges are the more beneficial,
as are also the moist, but less benencial are those
soaked in hot water, or those that are oily, or laid
on oily bodies, while compact sponges are less ad-
hesive. The softest kind of sponge is that used for
bandage-rolls. Applied in honey wine these relieve
swollen eyes. They are also good for wiping away
the rheum of ophthalmia, which they do most
efficiently with water. They should be very fine and
very soft. Sponges themselves ° are applied in
vinegar and water for eye-fluxes, and in warm vinegar
for headaches. For the rest, fresh sponges are
dispersive, soothing, and emollient ; old sponges do
not close wounds. The uses of sponges are to be
detergent, to foment, and after fomentation to cover
until something else is applied. Applied also to
wet ulcers of senile persons, sponges dry them, and
they foment with the greatest benefit fractures and
wounds. In surgery sponges quickly absorb the blood,
so that treatment can easily be observed. Sponges
themselves are applied to inflamed wounds, some-
times dry, at other times moistened with vinegar, or
wine, or cold water; applied indeed in rain-water to
fresh incisions they prevent their swelling. They
are also laid on parts that are whole, but suffering
from a hidden flux that has to be dispersed, and also
on what are called apostemata,b after rubbing them
with boiled honey; on joints also, sometimes
moistened with salted vinegar, sometimes with vine-
gar and water; should the complaint be attended

a Ipsae can hardly mean " by themselves," as it apparently
does in § 126, for ex posca seems to go with it. It may mark
a contrast with the sponge ash of § 129.

6 A Greek word, " abscesses."

457

PLIXY: XATURAL HISTORY

aqua. eaedem1 callo e salsa, at contra scorpionum
ictus ex aceto. in vulnerum curatione et sucidae
lanae vicem implent 2 cx eadem ; differentia haec,
quod lanae emolliunt, spongeae coercent rapiuntque

128 vitia ulcerum. circumligantur et hydropicis siccae
vel ex aqua tepida poscave, utcumque blandiri opus
est operirive 3 aut siccare cutem. inponuntur et his
morbis quos vaporari oporteat, ferventi aqua perfusae
expressaeque inter duas tabulas. sic et stomacho
prosunt et in febri contra nimios ardores, sed splenicis
e posca, ignibus sacris ex aceto efficaciores quam
aliud; inponi oportet sic ut sanas quoque partes

129 spatiose operiant. sanguinis profluvium sistunt ex
aceto aut frigida, livorem ab ictu recentem ex aqua
salsa calida saepius mutata tollunt, testium tumorem
doloremque ex posca. ad canum morsus utiliter con-
cisae inponuntur ex aceto aut frigida aut melle,
abunde subinde umectandae. Africanae cinis cum
porri sectivi suco sanguinem reicientibus haustus,
aliis 4 ex frigida, prodest. idem cinis vel cum oleo vel

130 cum aceto fronti inlitus tertianas tollit. privatim
Africanae ex posca tumorem discutit, omnium autem
cinis cum pice crematarum sanguinem sistit vul-
nerum; aliqui raras tantum ad hoc cum pice urunt.

1 eaedem Mayhqff: eadem codd.

- Post implent add. nunc ex vino et oleo nunc ex eadem
culg. ante Iannm.
3 operirive plerique codd. : operireve cod. a Mayhoff.
1 haustus aliis Mayhoff: haustu salis codd.

a See Onnerfors PUniana, pp. 167, 168 for ve after a short -e.

b This is a dubious reading, but haustu salis without cum
can scarcely be right.
458

BOOK XXXI. xlvii. 127-130

with fever, water alone is to be used. With salt and
water sponges are also applied to callosities, but with
vinegar to scorpion stings. In the treatment of
wounds sponges with salt and water also act as a
substitute for greasy wool ; the difference is that
wools soften, but sponges are astringent and absorb
quickly the diseased humours of ulcers. They are
also bound round dropsical parts, either dry or with
warm water or vinegar and water, whenever there
is need to soothe, or cover ° the skin, or dry it. They
are applied also for such diseases as need a steamy
heat, steeped in boiling water, and pressed between
two boards. So applied they are also good for the
stomach, and for the excessive burnings of fever;
but for the spleen with vinegar and water, while for
erysipelas they are with vinegar more efficacious
than anything ; they should be so placed that there
is ample covering for the healthy parts. With
vinegar or cold water they arrest haemorrhage, with
hot salt and water, often changed, they remove
fresh bruises caused by a blow, and with vinegar and
water they cure swollen and painful testicles. For
dog-bite are applied beneficially with vinegar, cold
water, or honey, cut-off pieces of sponge, which must
be thoroughly moistened every now and then. The
ash of the African sponge, swallowed with the juice
of cut-leek, is good for spitting of blood ; for other b
complaints it should be taken in cold water. This
ash also, applied to the forehead with oil or vinegar,
cures tertian agues. African sponges are specific
with vinegar and water for reducing swellings, and
the ash of all sponges burnt with pitch arrest
haemorrhage from wounds ; for this purpose some
burn with pitch only sponges of loose texture. For

459

PLINY: NATl RAL HISTORY

et oculorum causa comburuntur in cruda olla riguliui
operis, plurimum proficiente eo cinere contra sca-
britias genarum excrescentesque carnes et quicquid
opus sit ibi destringere, spissare, explere. utilius in
eo usu lavare cinerem. praestant et strigilum vicem
31 linteorumque adfectis corporibus. et contra solem
apte protegunt capita. medici inscitia ad duo
nomina eas redegere, Africanas, quarum firmius sit
robur, Rhodiacasque ad fovendum molliores. nunc
autem mollissimae circa muros Antiphelli urbis re-
periuntur. Trogus auctor est circa Lyciam peniciilos
mollissimos nasci in alto, unde ablatae sint spongeae,
Polvbius super aegrum suspensos quietiores facere
noctes. nunc praevertemur ad marina animalia.

460

BOOK XXXI. xlvii. 130-131

eye remedies sponges are burnt in an unbaked
earthenware pot, this ash being very efficacious
indeed for roughness or excrescences of the eyelids,
and for any complaint in the region of the eyes that
needs a remedy detergent, astringent, or expletive,
but for this treatment it is better to rinse the ash.
They also furnish a substitute for scrapers and towels
when the body is diseased. Sponges protect also
efficiently the head against the sun. In their
ignorance physicians have reduced sponges to two
classes : the African, which are firmer and harder,
and the Rhodian, which are softer for fomentations.
Today however a very soft sponges are found around
the walls of Antiphellus.6 Trogus informs us that
around Lycia very soft tent-sponges grow out at sea,
in places where sponges have been taken away;
Polybius that hung over a sick man these give more
peaceful nights. Now I shall turn my attention to
the creatures of the sea.

0 Warmington thinks that Pliny is translating the Greek
vvv Se (" as things are ").
b A city of Lycia.

461

BOOK XXXII

LIBER XXXII

1 I. Ventum est ad summa naturae exemplorumque
per rerum ordinem, et ipsum sua sponte occurrit in-
mensum potentiae occultae documentum, ut prorsue
neque aliud ultra quaeri debeat nec par ac similes
possit inveniri, ipsa se vincente natura, et quidem
numerosis modis. quid enim violentius mari ventisve
et turbinibus ac procellis ? quo maiore hominum
ingenio x in ulla sui parte adiuta est quam velis re-
misque ? addatur his et reciproci aestus inenarrabilis

2 vis versumque totum mare in flumen. tamen omnia
haec pariterque eodem inpellentia unus ac parvus
admodum pisciculus, echenais appellatus, in se tenet.
ruant venti licet, saeviant procellae : imperat furori
viresque tantas compescit et cogit stare navigia,
quod non vincula ulla, non ancorae pondere inrevoca-
bili iactae.2 infrenat impetus et domat mundi
rabiem nullo suo labore, non renitendo aut alio modo

3 quam adhaerendo. hoc tantulo 3 satis est, contra tot
impetus ut vetet ire navigia. sed 4 armatae classes
inponunt sibi turrium propugnacula, ut in mari quo-
que pugnetur velut e muris. heu vanitas humana,

1 ingenio codd. : invento coni. Mayhoff.

2 iaotae/ere omnes codd.: factae E.

3 hoc tantulo codd.: hoc tantulum (-lu) coni. Mayhoff.

4 sed codd. : ecce coni. Mayhoff.

° Or, with MayhofFs conjecture, " invention."
464

BOOK XXXII

See Index of Fishes for identification of aquatic creatures.

I. The course of my subiect has brought me to the The *«*««<*

, * » °1 . sea creatures.

greatest of Nature s works, and 1 am actually met by
such an unsought and overwhelming proof of hidden
power that inquiry should really be pursued no
further, and nothing equal or similar can be found,
Nature surpassing herself, and that in numberless
ways. For what is more violent than sea, winds, whirl-
winds, and storms ? By what greater skill ° of man
has Nature been aided in any part of herself than by
sails and oars ? Let there be added to these the indes-
cribable force of tidal ebb and flow, the whole sea
being turned into a river. All these, however, al-
though acting in the same direction, are checked by a
single specimen of the sucking fish, a very small fish.
Gales may blow and storms may rage ; this fish rules
their fury, restrains their mighty strength, and brings
vessels to a stop, a thing no cables can do, nor yet
anchors of unmanageable weight that have been cast.6
It checks their attacks and tames the madness of the
Universe with no toil of its own, not by resistance, or
in any way except by adhesion. This little creature
suffices in the face of all these forces to prevent vessels
from moving. But armoured fleets bear aloft on
their decks a rampart of towers, so that fighting may
take place even at sea as from the walls of a fortress.

* With the reading fadae : " made of incalculable strength."

465

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

cum rostra illa aere ferroque ad ictus armata semi-
pedalis inhibere possit ac tenere devincta pisciculus !
fertur Actiaco Marte tenuisse praetoriam navem
Antoni properantis circumire et exhortari suos, donec
transiret in aliam, ideoque Caesariana classis impetu
maiore protinus venit. tenuit et nostra memoria Gai

4 principis ab Astura Antium renavigantis. ut res est,1
etiam auspicalis pisciculus, siquidem novissime tum
in urbem reversus ille imperator suis telis confossus
est, nec longa fuit illius morae admiratio, statim causa
intellecta, cum e tota classe quinqueremis sola non
proficeret, exilientibus protinus qui quaererent circa
navem. invenere adhaerentem gubernaculo osten-
deruntque Gaio indignanti hoc fuisse quod se revo-
caret quadringentorumque remigum obsequio contra

5 se intercederet. constabat peculiariter miratum,
quomodo adhaerens tenuisset nec idem polleret in
navigium receptus. qui tunc posteaque videre eum,
limaci magnae similem esse dicunt. nos plurium
opiniones posuimus in natura aquatilium, cum de eo
diceremus, nec dubitamus idem valere omnia ea 2
genera, cum celebri et consecrato etiam exemplo
apud Cnidiam Venerem conchas quoque esse eius-

6 dem potentiae credi necesse sit. e nostris quidam
Latine moram appellavere eum, mirumque, e Graecis

1 ut res est B, Mayhoff.

2 ea B, Mayhoff: om. ceteri codd.

a See IX. § 79.

6 That is: " delay." It has none of the powers ascribed to
it by Pliny.

466

BOOK XXXII. i. 3-6

How futile a creature is man, seeing that those rams.
armed for striking with bronze and iron, can be
checked and held fast by a little fish six inches long !
It is said that at the battle of Actium the fish stopped
the flagship of Antonius, who was hastening to go
round and encourage his men, until he changed his
ship for another one, and so the fleet of Caesar at
once made a more violent attack. Within our
memory the fish stayed the ship of the Emperor
Gaius as he was sailing back from Astura to Antium.
As it turned out, the little fish also proved ominous,
because very soon after that Emperor's return to
Rome on this occasion he was stabbed by his own
men. This delay caused no long surprise, for the
reason was immediately discovered ; of the whole
fleet the quinquereme alone making no progress,
men at once dived and swam round the ship to trace
the cause. They found this fish sticking to the
rudder and showed it to Gaius, who w&s furious that
it had been such a thing that was keeping him back
and vetoing the obedience to himself of four hundred
rowers. It was agreed that what astonished him in
particular was how the fish had stopped him by
sticking to the outside, yet when inside the ship it
had not the same power. Those who saw the fish
then or afterwards say that it is like a large slug.
I have given a the views of the majority in my
account of water creatures, where I discussed the
fish, and I do not doubt all this kind of fish have the
same power, since there is a famous and even divinely
sanctioned example in the temple of the Cnidian
Venus, where snails too, we are forced to believe,
have the same potency. Of the Roman authorities
some have given this fish the Latin name of mora,b

467

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

alii lubricos partus atque procidentes continere x ad
maturitatem adalligatum, 2 ut diximus, prodiderunt,
alii sale adservatum adalligatumque gravidis partus
solvere, ob id alio nomine odinolyten appellari. quo-
cumque modo ista se habent, quis ab hoc tenendi
navigia exemplo de ulla potentia naturae vique et
effectu in remediis sponte nascentium rerum dubitet ?

II. Quid ? non et sine hoc exemplo per se satis
esset ex eodem mari torpedo? etiam procul et e
longinquo, vel si hasta virgave attingatur, quamvis
praevalidos lacertos torpescere, quamlibet ad cursum
veloces alligari pedes ? quod si necesse habemus
fateri hoc exemplo esse vim aliquam, quae odore
tantum et quadam aura corporis sui adficiat membra,
quid non de remediorum omnium momentis speran-
dum est?

III. Non sunt minus mira quae de lepore marino
traduntur. venenum est aliis in potu aut cibo datus,
aliis etiam visu, siquidem gravidae, si omnino ad-
spexerint feminam ex eo genere dumtaxat, statim
nausiant et redundatione stomachi vitium fatentur 3
ac deinde abortum faciunt. remedio est mas ob id
induratus sale, ut in bracchialibus habeant. eadem
res in mari ne tactu quidem nocet. vescitur eo
unum tantum animalium, ut non intereat, mullus
piscis ; tenerescit tantum et inertior 4 viliorque fit.

1 continere B, Mayhoff: contineri ceteri codd.

2 adalligatum Mayhoff: adalligato B: adalligato eo plerique
codd., Detlefsen.

3 nausiam et redundationem stomachi vomitu fatentur
coni. Mayhoff.

4 inertior B1, Ianus, Mayhoff: ingratior codd. vulg.,
Detlefsen.

a See IX. § 79.

b Thatis: " deliverer from birth-pangs."
468

BOOK XXXII. i. 6 iii. 8

and a marvel is told by some Greeks, wlio have related,
as I have said,a that worn as an amulet it arrests mis-
carriage, and by reducing procidence of the uterus
allows the foetus to reach maturity ; others say that
preserved in salt and worn as an amulet it delivers
pregnant women, this being the reason why another
name, odinolytes,h is given to it. However these
things may be, would anybody after this instance of
staying a ship's course entertain doubts about any
power, force, and efficacy of nature, to be found in
remedies from things that grow spontaneously ?

II. But surely, even without this example, evidence
enough by itself could be found in the electric-ray,
which also is a sea creature. Even at a distance,
and that a long distance, or if it is touched with a
spear or rod, to think that the strongest arms are
numbed, feet as swift in racing as you like are
paralysed ! But if this example forces us to confess
that there is a force which by smell alone, and by
what I may call the breath from the creature's body,
so affects our limbs, what limits are there to our hopes
based on the potency of all remedies ?

III. No less wonderful things are related of the
sea-hare. To some it is poison if given in drink or
food, to others if merely seen, since pregnant women,
if they have but looked at one, the female, that is,
of the species, at once feel nausea, show by regurgita-
tion signs of a disordered stomach, and then miscarry.
The remedy is a male specimen, specially hardened
for this purpose with salt, to be worn in a bracelet.
In the sea, however, it does not hurt, even by touch.
There feeds on it without being killed one creature
only, red mullet, which merely becomes flabby, more
insipid, and coarser. Struck by it a human being

469

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

9 homines, quibus inpactus est, piscem olent ; hoc
primo argumento veneficium id deprehenditur.
cetero moriuntur totidem in diebus, quot vixerit
lepus, incertique temporis veneficium id esse auctor
est Licinius Macer. in India adfirmant non capi
viventem invicemque ibi hominem illi pro veneno
esse ac vel digito omnino in mari tactum mori, esse
autem multo ampliorem, sicuti reliqua animalia.

10 IV. Iuba in iis voluminibus, quaes cripsit ad C. Cae-
sarem Aug. f. de Arabia, tradit mitulos ternas
heminas capere, cetos sescentorum pedum longi-
tudinis et trecentorum sexaginta latitudinis in flumen
Arabiae intrasse, pinguique eius mercatores negoti-
atos, et omnium piscium adipe camelos perungui in
eo situ, ut asilos ab iis fugent odore.

11 V. Mihi videntur mira et quae Ovidius prodidit
piscium ingenia in eo volumine, quod halieuticon in-
scribitur : scarum inclusum nassis non fronte erum-
pere nec infestis viminibus caput inserere, sed aver-
sum caudae ictibus crebris laxare fores atque ita
retrorsum repere, quem luctatum eius si forte alius
scarus extrinsecus videat, adprehensa mordicus cauda
adiuvare nisus erumpentis ; lupum rete circumdatum

12 harenas arare cauda atque ita condi dumtranseatrete ;
murenam maculas adpetere ipsas consciam teretis ac
lubrici tergi, tum multiplici flexu laxare, donec eva-
dat ; polypum hamos adpetere bracchiisque com-

a Or, perhaps better: " In India they say that etc."
6 I.e. " On fishing."

470

BOOK XXXII. iii. 9-v. 12

smells of fish ; this is the first symptom by which such
poisoning is detected. Furthermore, the victims die
in the same number of days as the hare has lived, and
Licinius Macer is authority for saying that this
poison has variable periods for its action. They say
that in India a the sea-hare is never caught alive ;
and that inversely man is there poisonous to the hare ;
that even a mere touch of a human fmger in the sea
is fatal to it ; but that like all other animals the Indian
variety is far larger.

IV. In those volumes about Arabia which he
dedicated to Gaius Caesar, the son of Augustus,
Juba related that there are mussels there with shells
holding three heminae ; that a whale 600 feet long
and 360 feet broad entered a river of Arabia ; that
merchants did a trade with its blubber ; and that
camels in that district are rubbed all over with the
fat of any fish, so that gad-flies may be kept away
by the smell.

V. Wonderful too appear to me the characters of
fishes given by Ovid in his book entitled Halieuticon : b
how the scarus, caught in a weel, does not burst out
to the front, or thrust his head through the osiers
that imprison him, but turns round, widens the gaps
with repeated blows of his tail, and so creeps back-
wards. If by chance his struggles are seen by
another scarus outside, he seizing the other's tail with
his teeth helps the efforts to burst out. The basse,
he says, when surrounded by a net, ploughs a hole in
the sand with his tail, and so is buried until the net
passes over him. He says too that the murena,
knowing that his back is rounded and slippery, attacks
the meshes themselves, and then by involved
wriggling widens them until he escapes ; that the

471

PLINY. NATURAL HISTORY

plecti, non morsu, nec prius dimittere, quam escam
circumroserit, aut harundine levatum extra aquam.
scit et mugil esse in esca hamum insidiasque non
ignorat, aviditas tamen tanta est, ut cauda verber-

13 ando excutiat cibum. minus in providendo lupus
sollertiae habet, sed magnum robur in paenitendo.
nam ut * haesit in hamo tumultuoso discursu laxat
volnera, donec excidant insidiae. murenae amplius
devorant quam hamum, admovent dentibus lineas
atque ita erodunt. anthias 2 tradit idem infixo hamo
invertere se, quoniam sit in dorso cultellata spina,
eaque liniam praesecare.

14 Licinius Macer murenas feminini tantum sexus
esse tradit et concipere e serpentibus, ut diximus ob
id sibilo a piscatoribus tamquam a serpentibus evo-
cari et capi.3 . . . et pinguescere, iactato fusti non
interemi, easdem ferula protinus. animam in cauda
habere certum est eaque icta celerrime exanimari, ad
capitis ictum difficulter. novacula pisce qui attacti
sunt, ferrum olent. durissimum esse piscium constat
qui orbis vocetur ; rotundus est, sine squamis totus-
que capite constat.

15 VI. Trebius Niger xiphian, id est gladium, rostro
mucronato esse, ab hoc naves perfossas mergi ; in
oceano ad locum Mauretaniae, qui Cottae vocetur,
non procul Lixo rlumine idem lolligines evolare ex
aqua tradit tanta multitudine, ut navigia demergant.

1 ut multi codd. : si in B1 : si ut B2 Sillig : is, ut Mayhoff.
- anthias Urlichs, Detlefsen, Mayhoff: varia codd.
3 Hic Mayhoff lacunam esse coni.

a See IX. § 76.

472

BOOK XXXII. v. 12-vi. 15

polypus attacks the hook, grips it with his tentacles,
not teeth, and does not let it go before he has nibbled
round the bait, or been lift.ed out of the water by the
rod. The mugil too knows that in the bait is a hook,
and is quite aware of the trap ; his greed however is
so great that by lashing with his tail he knocks off
the food. The basse has less cunning insight, but
great strength when he realizes his mistake. For
when caught on the hook he dashes about wildly,
widening the wounds until the snare is torn out.
The murena swallows more than the hook, applies
the line to his teeth, and so gnaws it through. Ovid
also relates that the anthias, when the hook catches,
turns over, since on his back is a spine with a knife-
edge, with which he cuts through the line.

Licinius Macer relates that the murena is female
only, and conceives out of serpents, as I have said,a
and that therefore fishermen whistle in imitation of a
serpent's call, and so catch the fish, and . . . grow fat;
that a club hurled at them does not kill, but fennel-
giant kills at once. It is certain that the seat of life
is in their tail , for if this is struck they very quickly
die, but it is dimcult to kill them by blows on the head.
Those touched by the razor-fish smell of iron. It is
a well-known fact that the hardest fish is the orbis,
which is round, without scales, and all head.b

VI. Trebius Xiger tells us that the xiphias, that is
the sword-fish, has a pointed beak, by which ships
are pierced and sunk ; in the open sea, off the place
in Mauretania called Cottae, not far from the river
Lixus, the same authority tells us that the lolligo
flies out of the water in such numbers as to sink a

* The repetition of constat in different senses is very awk-
ward ; it is an instance of " unconscious repetition."

473

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

Lolligo quotiens cernatur extra aquam volitans,
tempestates mutari.1

16 VII. E manu vescuntur pisces in pluribus quidem
Caesaris villis, sed — quae veteres prodidere in stagnis,
non piscinis, admirati — in Heloro Siciliae castello non
procul Syracusis, item in Labrayndi Iovis fonte
anguillae et inaures additas gerunt, similiter in Chio
iuxta Senum delubrum, in Mesopotamiae quoque
fonte Chabura, de quo diximus, pisces.

17 VIII. Nam in Lycia Myris in fonte Apollinis, quem
Curium appellant, ter fistula vocati veniunt ad
augurium. diripere eos carnes abiectas laetum est
consultantibus, caudis abigere dirum. Hieropoli
Syriae in lacu Veneris aedituorum vocibus parent,
vocati veniunt exornati auro, adulantes scalpuntur,
ora hiantia manibus inserendis praebent. in Stabiano
Campaniae ad Herculis petram melanuri in mari
panem abiectum rapiunt, iidem ad nullum cibum, in
quo hamus sit, accedunt.

18 IX. Nec illa in novissimis mira, amaros esse pisces
ad Pelen insulam et ad Clazomenas, contra scopulum
Siciliae 2 ac Leptim Africae et Euboeam et Durra-
chium, rursus ita salsos, ut possint salsamenta existu-
mari, circa Cephallaniam et Ampelon, Paron et Deli
petras, in portu eiusdem insulae dulces. quam

19 differentiam pabulo constare non est dubium. Apion

1 lolligo . . . mutari post demergant transfert Mayhoff, qui
nuntiari pro mutari coni.

2 Siciliae codd., Mayhoff: Scyllae Urlichs, Detlefsen.

u The last sentence is transferred to this place from the end
of § 14 by Mayhoff (not in his text), who also reads nuntiari,
that is: '' storms are indicated."

474

BOOK XXXII. vi. 15-ix. 19

vessel. Whenever the lolligo, he says, is seen flying
out of the water a changc of wcather occurs.0

VII. In several country seats indeed of the
Emperor fisli eat out of the hand, but— what our old
writers have recorded with wonder as occurring in
natural pools, not fish-ponds — at Helorus, a fortress
of Sicily not far from Syracuse, and likewise in the
spring of Jupiter of Labraynda, the eels even wear
ear-rings, as do the fishes in Chios near the Shrine of
the Old Men, and in the spring Chabura also in
Mesopotamia, about which I have spoken.6

VIII. But at Myra in Lycia in the spring of
Apollo called Curium, when summoned three times
by the pipe the fishes come to give oracular responses.
For the fish to snap at the meat thrown to them is a
happy augury for enquirers, to cast it aside with
their tails an augury of disaster. At Hieropolis in
Syria the fish in the pond of Yenus obey the voice of
the temple ministers ; they come at their call
adorned with gold, fawning to be scratched, and
offer gaping mouths to receive their hands. At
Stabiae in Campania at the Rock of Hercules the
melanuri in the sea seize the bread thrown to them,
but they will not go near any food in which is a hook.

IX. Nor are these the last among the marvels we
know of fishes : that they are bitter near the island
of Pele and near Clazomenae, over against the rock
of Sicily,c Leptis in Africa, Euboea, and Dyrrhachium ;
and again, so salt that they might be thought pickled,
off Cephallania, Ampelos, Paros and the rocks of
Delos ; while in the harbour of Delos they are sweet.
These differences depend without a doubt on the

6 See XXXI. § 37.

c I.e. Scylla, which has been conjectured for Sicilia.

475

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

piscium maximum x esso tradit porcum, quem Lace-
daemoni orthagoriseum vocent ; grunnire eum, cum
capiatur. esse vero illam naturae accidentiam —
quod magis miremur — etiam in locis quibusdam,
adposito occurrit exemplo, siquidem salsamenta
omnium generum in Italia Beneventi refici constat.

20 X. Pisces marinos in usu fuisse protinus a condita
Roma auctor est Cassius Hemina, cuius verba de ea
re subiciam : Numa constituit ut pisces, qui squamosi
non essent, ni pollucerent, parsimonia commentus, ut
convivia publica et privata cenaeque ad pulvinaria
faeilius compararentur, ni qui ad polluctum emerent
pretio minus parcerent eaque praemercarentur.

21 XI. Quantum apud nos Indicis margaritis pretium
est, de quis suo loco satis diximus, tantum apud Indos
curalio ; namque ista persuasione gentium constant.2
gignitur et in Rubro quidem mari, sed nigrius, item
in Persico — vocatur lace — laudatissimum in Gallico
sinu circa Stoechadas insulas et in Siculo circa Aeolias
ac Drepana. nascitur et apud Graviscas et ante
Neapolim Campaniae ; maximeque rubens, sed molle

22 et ideo vilissimum Erythris. forma est ei fruticis,
colos viridis. bacae eius candidae sub aqua ac molles,
exemptae confestim durantur et rubescunt qua corna

1 maximum codd. : maxime mirum Mayhoff, qui notam
addit: "aw excidit (ante Apion) alterum exemplum piscis
aliquo loco non muti? "

2 constant multi codd. : constat BV : ita . . . constat in
Appendice MayJwff.

■' With Mayhoffs reading: " most wonderful."
b An historian who fiourished about 140 b.c.
e See IX. § 104 foll.

d This phrase is generally taken with the preceding clause.
The punctuation is mine.

476

BOOK XXXII. ix. 19-xi. 22

food. Apion tells us that the largest a of the fishes
is the pig-fish, which the Lacedaemonians call ortha-
goriscus, saying that it grunts when it is caught.
That this accident of nature, however (to increase our
wonder), is also met with in certain localities, is sug-
gested by a ready example, seeing that salted foods
of every kind, as is well known, at Beneventum in
Italy have to be resalted.

X. That sea fish were commonly eaten immediately
after the foundation of Rome is told us by Cassius
Hemina,b whose very words on the subject I will
quote here. " Numa ordained that scaleless fish
should not be provided at sacrificial meals, being in-
duced by reasons of economy, so that provision could
be more easily made for public and private banquets
and for feasts of the gods, to prevent caterers on
those sacred occasions from being extravagant and
buying up the market."

XI. Coral is as valuable among the Indians as
Indian pearls, about which I have spoken c in their
proper place, are among the Romans, for cost varies
with the demand of any particular people. Coral is
also found in the Red Sea, but this is of a darker
colour ; also in the Persian Gulf — this is called lace —
the most valued is in the Gallic Gulf around the
Stoechades Islands, in the Sicilian Gulf around the
Aeolian Islands, and around Drepana. Coral also
grows at Graviscae and before Naples in Campania ;
but that at Erythrae, which is very red indeed,d is soft
and therefore thought worthless.

In shape coral is like a shrub, and its colour is green.
Its berries are white under the water and soft ;
when taken out they immediately harden and grow
red, being like, in appearance and size, to those of

477

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

sativa specie atque magnitudine. aiunt tactu pro-
tinus lapidescere, si vivat ; itaque occupari evellique
retibus aut acri ferramento praecidi, qua de causa
curalium vocitatum interpretantur, probatissimum
quam maxime rubens et quam ramosissimum nec
scabiosum aut lapideum aut rursus inane et concavum.

23 auctoritas bacarum eius non minus Indorum viris
quoque pretiosa est quam feminis nostris uniones
Indici. harispices eorum vatesque inprimis retigio-
sum id gestamen amoliendis periculis arbitrantur.
ita et decore et religione gaudent. prius quam hoc
notesceret, Galli gladios, scuta, galeas, adornabant
eo. nunc tanta paenuria est vendibili merce, ut per-

24 quam raro cernatur in suo orbe. surculi infantiae
adalligati tutelam habere creduntur, contraque tor-
minum ac vesicae et calculorum mala in pulverem
igni redacti potique cum aqua auxiliantur, simili
modo ex vino poti aut, si febris sit, ex aqua somnum
adferunt — ignibus diu repugnat J — sed eodem medi-
camine saepius poto tradunt lienem quoque absumi.
sanguinem reicientibus excreantibusve medetur cinis
eorum ; miscetur oculorum medicamentis, spissat
enim ac refrigerat, ulcerum cava explet, cicatrices
extenuat.

2.5 XII. Quod ad repugnantiam rerum attinet, quam
Graeci antipathian vocant, nihil est usquam venena-
tius quam in mari pastinaca, utpote cum radio eius
arbores necari dixerimus. hanc tamen persequitur

1 " an ignibus diu repugnat pertinet ad finem § 22 post con-
cavum? " Mayhoff.

a Greek Ketpoj, I cut. b See § 23.

e The reason for the proposed transposition is the sudden
change from plural to singular (creduntur, auxiliantur, ad-
ferunt, repugnat).

478

BOOK XXXII. xi. 22-xii. 25

cultivated cornel. It is said that at a touch it imme-
diately petrifies, if it lives ; and that therefore it is
quickly seized and pulled away in nets or cut off by a
sharp iron instrument. In this way they explain its
name " coral." ° The most valued coral is the reddest
and most branehy, without being rough or stony. or
again empty and hollow. Coral berries are no less
valued by Indian men than are large Indian pearls by
Roman women. Indian soothsayers and seers think
that coral is a very powerful amulet b for warding off
dangers. Accordingly they take pleasure in it both
as a thing of beauty and as a thing of religious power.
Before the Indian love of coral became known, the
Gauls used to ornament with coral their swords,
shields, and helmets. At the present day it has
become so scarce because of the price it will fetch that
it is very rarely to be seen in the countries where it
grows. Branches of coral, worn as an amulet by
babies, are believed to be protective, and reduced to
powder by fire and taken with water are helpful in
gripings, bladder trouble and stone ; similarly, taken
in wine, or, if fever is present, in water, coral is
soporific. Coral resists fire for a long time,c but they
say also that taken in drink repeatedly as medicine it
consumes the spleen. The ash of coral branches is
good treatment for bringing up or spitting of blood.
It is a component of eye salves, for it is astringent and
cooling, fills up the hollows of ulcers, and smooths out
scars.

XII. As to the hostility between things, which the
Greeks call antipathia, there is nowhere anything
more venomous than the sting-ray in the sea, since
we have said d that by its ray trees are killed. The

d See IX. § 155.

479

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

galeos, idem et alios quidem pisces, sed pastinacas
praecipue, sicut in terra mustela serpentes — tanta
est avidatas ipsius veneni — percussis vero ab ea
medentur et hic quidem, sed et mullus ac laser,

26 XIII. spectabili naturae potentia, in iis quoque, qui-
bus et in terris victus est, sicut fibris, quos castoras
vocant et castorea testes eorum. amputari hos ab
ipsis, cum capiantur, negat Sextius diligentissimus
medicinae, quin immo parvos esse substrictosque
et adhaerentes spinae, nec adimi sine vita animalis
posse; adulterari autem renibus eiusdem, qui sint
grandes cum veri testes parvi admodum reperiantur ;

27 praeterea ne vesicas quidem esse, cum sint geminae,
quod nulli animalium ; in iis folliculis inveniri x
liquorem et adservari sale ; itaque inter probationes
falsi esse folliculos geminos ex uno nexu depen-
dentes, quod ipsum corrumpi fraude conicientium
cummin cum sanguine aut Hammoniacum, quoniam
Hammoniaci coloris esse debeant, circumdati liquore
veluti mellis cerosi, odore graves, gustu amaro et
acri, friabiles. efficacissimi e Ponto Galatiaque, mox

28 Africa. sternumenta olfactu movent. somnum con-
ciliant cum rosaceo et peucedano peruncto capite et
per se poti ex aqua, ob id phreneticis utiles ; iidem

1 " loctis adhuc corruptus videtur ; exspectaveris potius ne
vesicam quidem (sc. communem) esse, cum sint gemini folli-
culi . . . in iis inven iri sqq. cfr. Diosc." Mayhoff.

a The plural (efficacissimi, movent, etc.) is due to testes, but
it seems more natural in English to use the singular, referring
to castoreum.

480

BOOK XXXII. xii. 25-xm. 28

galeos however chases the sting-ray, and also indeed
other fishes, but the sting-ray in particular, just as
on land the weasel chases serpents, so great is its
greed for the very poison itself. Those however
stung by the sting-ray find good treatment in the
galeos, as well as in red mullet and laser.

XIII. Equally remarkable is the might of Nature
in those creatures also which are amphibious, such as
the beaver, which they call castor and its testes
castoreum. Sextius, a very careful inquirer into
medical subjects, denies that the beaver himself bites
off his own testes when it is being captured ; he says
that on the contrary these are small, tightly knit,
attached to the spine, and not to be taken away with-
out destroying the creature's life. Castoreum
(beaver-oil) he says is however adulterated by
beaver's kidneys, which are large, while the real
testes are found to be very small. Moreover, they
cannot even be the creature's bladders, for they are
twin, and no animal has two bladders. In these
pouches (he goes on) is found a liquid, which is
preserved in salt. Accordingly one of the tests of
fraud is whether two pouches hang down from one
connection, while the liquid itself is adulterated by
adding to it cummin and beaver blood or amrnonia-
cum, because the testes ought to be of the colour of
ammoniacum, coated with a liquid like waxy honey,
with a strong smell, a bitter taste, and friable. The
most efficacious castoreum comes a from Pontus and
Galatia, the next best from Africa. Doctors cause
sneezing by its smell. It is soporific if the head is
rubbed all over with beaver oil, rose oil, and peuce-
danum, or if by itself it is taken in water, for which
reason it is useful in brain fever. It also arouses, by

481

VOL. VIII. R

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

lethargieos odoris x suffitu excitant volvarumque
exanimationes vel subditu, ac menses et secundas

29 cient II drachmis cum puleio ex aqua poti. meden-
tur et vertigini, opisthotono, tremulis, spasticis,
nervorum vitiis, ischiadicis, stomachicis, paralyticis,
perunctis omnibus, vel triti ad crassitudinem mellis
cum semine viticis ex aceto ac rosaceo. sic et contra
comitiales sumpti, poti vero contra inflationes, tor-
mina, venena. differentia tantum contra genera est

30 mixturae, quippe adversus scorpiones ex vino bibun-
tur, adversus phalangia et araneos ex mulso ita, ut
vomitione reddantur aut ut contineantur cum ruta.
adversus chalcidas cum myrtite, adversus cerasten et
presteras cum panace aut ruta ex vino, adversus
ceteras serpentes cum vino. dari binas drachmas

31 satis ; eorum, quae adiciantur, singulas. auxiliantur
privatim contra viscum ex aceto, adversus aconitum
ex lacte aut aqua, adversus helleborum album ex
aqua mulsa nitroque. medentur et dentibus infusi
cum oleo triti in aurem, a cuius parte doleant,
aurium dolori melius, si cum meconio. claritatem
visus faciunt cum melle Attico inunctis. cohibent
singultus ex aceto. urina quoque fibri resistit
venenis et ob id in antidota additur. adservatur
autem optume in sua vesica, ut aliqui existumant.

32 XIV. Geminus similiter victus in aquis terraque
et testudinum effectusque par, honore habendo vel
propter excellens in usu pretium figuraeque pro-
prietatem. sunt ergo testudinum genera terrestres,

1 odoris] " an odore? " Mayhoff.

■' See Book XXIX. § 102.
482

BOOK XXXII. xiii. 28-xiv. 32

the smell of fumigation, sufferers from coma and
hysterical, fainting women, the latter also by a
pessary ; it is an emmenagogue and brings away the
after-birth if two drachmae are taken in water with
pennyroyal. It is also a remedy for vertigo, opis-
thotonus, palsied tremors, cramps, sinew pains,
sciatica, stomach troubles, and paralysis ; in all cases
by rubbing all over, or ground to the consistency of
honey with seed of vitex in vinegar and rose oil. In
this form it is taken for epilepsy, but in drink for
rlatulence, griping and poisons. The only difference
in its use for the various poisons lies in the ingredients
with which it is mixed. For scorpion bites it is taken
in wine ; for the phalangium and other spiders in
honey wine if it is to be vomited back or with rue if
it is to be retained ; for the chalcis a with myrtle wine ;
for the horned asp and prester with panaces or rue in
wine ; for the bites of other serpents with wine.
Two drachmae are a sufficient dose, of the other
ingredients one drachma. It is specific in vinegar for
mistletoe poisoning, in milk or water for poisoning
by aconite, for white hellebore in oxymel and soda.
It also cures toothache if pounded with oil ; it is poured
into the ear on the side of the pain ; for ear-ache it is
better mixed with poppy juice. Added to Attic
honey and used as an ointment it improves the vision.
In vinegar it checks hiccoughs. Beaver urine, too,
counteracts poisons, and therefore is added to anti-
dotes. It is however best preserved, as some think,
in the beaver's bladder.

XIV. Like the beaver the tortoise is amphibious,
and of the same medical properties, distinguished by
the high price given for its use, and by its peculiar
shape. So there are various kinds : tortoises that live

483

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

marinae, lutariae et quae in dulci aqua vivunt. has

33 quidam e Graecis emydas appellant. Terrestrium
carnes suffitionibus propriae magicisque artibus
refutandis et contra venena salutares produntur.
plurimae in Africa. hae ibi amputato capite pedi-
busque pro antidoto dari dicuntur et e iure in cibo
sumptae strumas discutere, lienes tollere, item comi-
tiales morbos. sanguis earum claritatem visus facit,
sistit x suffusiones oculorum. et contra serpentium
omnium et araneorum ac similium et ranarum
venena auxiliatur servato sanguine in farina pilulis
factis et, cum opus sit, in vino datis. felle testu-
dinum cum Attico melle glaucomata inungui prodest,

34 scorpionum plagae instillari.2 tegimenti cinis vino
et oleo subactus pedum rimas ulceraque sanat.
squamae e summa parte derasae et in potu datae
venerem cohibent. eo magis hoc mirum, quoniam
totius tegimenti farina accendere traditur libidinem.
urinam aliter earum quam in vesica dissectarum in-
veniri posse non arbitror et inter ea 3 esse hoc quoque,
quae portentose Magi demonstrant, adversus aspidum
ictus singularem, efficaciorem tamen, ut aiunt, cimi-
cibus admixtis. ova durata inlinuntur strumis et
ulceribus frigore aut adustione factis. sorbentur in

35 stomachi doloribus. Marinarum carnes admixtae
ranarum carnibus contra salamandras praeclare
auxiliantur, neque est testudine aliud salamandrae

1 sistit Brakman: discutit Mayhoff: in codd. lacuna.
'-' instillari codd. : instillant Mayhoff.

3 inter ea codd.: interanea Detlefsen: " locus fortasse non-
dum sanatus," Mayhoff.

a Brakman's sistit is perhaps the best supplement of the
lacuna.

h Toads are included in ranae.

484

BOOK XXXII. xiv. 32-35

on land, in the sea, in muddy water, and in fresh
water. The last are called by some Greeks emydes.

The flesh of the land tortoise is reported to be
especially useful for fumigations, to keep off magical
tricks, and to counteract poisons. It is most common
in Africa. There the flesh of this tortoise, with its
head and feet cut off, is said to be given as an antidote,
and taken in its broth as food to disperse scrofulous
sores, to reduce the spleen, and to cure epilepsy.
The blood clarifies the vision and arrests a cataract.
For the poisons of all serpents, spiders and similar
creatures, and of frogs,& it is of service ; the blood is
preserved in flour, made up into pills, and given in
wine when necessary. It is beneficial to use the gall
of tortoises with Attic honey as an eye-wash for
opaqueness of the lens, and to drop it c into the
wounds made by scorpions. The shell, reduced to
ash and kneaded with wine and oil, heals chaps and
sores on the feet. Shavings from the top of the shell
and given in drink are antaphrodisiac. This is all the
more surprising because the whole shell, reduced to
powder, is said to incite to lust. The urine of this
tortoise, I believe, is found only in the bladder of
dissected animals, and this is one of the substances
to which the Magi give supernatural virtues as being
specific for the bites of asps ; a more efficacious one,
however, they say, if bugs are added. The eggs are
applied hard boiled to scrofulous sores, frost bites and
burns. They are swallowed for pains in the stomach.

The flesh of sea tortoises mixed with that of frogs
is an excellent remedy for salamander bites, and
nothing is more opposed to the salamander than the

c If a comma is placed at prodest the instillari of the MSS.
can perhaps be kept with fel as its understood subject.

485

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

adversius. sanguine alopeciarum inanitas et porrigo
omniaque capitis ulcera curantur ; inarescere eum
oportet lenteque ablui. instillatur et dolori aurium
cum lacte mulierum. adversus morbos comitiales
manditur cum polline frumenti, miscetur autem san-

36 guinis x heminis tribus aceti hemina. datur et sus-
piriosis, sed tum hemina vini additur ; 2 his et cum
hordeacea farina, aceto quoque admixto, ut sit quod
devoretur fabae magnitudine ; et haec singula et
matutina et vespera dantur, dein post aliquot dies
bina vespera. comitialibus instillatur ore diducto ; 3
iis, qui modice corripiantur spasmo, cum castoreo

37 clystere infunditur. quod si dentes ter annis 4 col-
luantur testudinum sanguine, immunes a dolore fiant.
et anhelitus discutit quasque orthopnoeas vocant ;
ad has in polenta datur. fel testudinum claritatem
oculorum facit, cicatrices extenuat, tonsillas sedat
et anginas et omnia oris vitia, privatim nomas ibi,
item testium. naribus inlitum comitiales erigit attol-
litque. idem cum vernatione anguium aceto ad-
mixto unice purulentis auribus prodest. quidam
bubulum fel admiscent decoctarum 5 carnium testu-

38 dinis suco, addita aeque vernatione anguium ; sed
vino testudinem excocunt. oculorum utique vitia
omnia fel inunctum cum melle emendat, suffusiones

1 tum Ianus, Mayhoff: cum B SiUig, Mayhoff.

2 additur B, Sillig, Mayhoff: addito VRdT, Hard.: coni.
sed cum hemina vini. manditur his et Mayhoff.

3 diducto B, Gelenius : diducis VR : deductis E, vulg.

4 annis VRf, Io. Mullcr : minis B : coni. heminis Mayhoff.

5 decoctarum Mayhoff: decoctarumve (decoctarumque)
codd.

486

BOOK XXXII. xiv. 35-38

tortoise. Its blood is good treatment for the bare
patches of mange, for dandruff, and for all sores on
the head ; it should be allowed to dry and then gently
washed ofF. With woman's milk it is poured by drops
into aching ears. For epilepsy it is taken with
wheaten flour, but three heminae of blood are diluted
with one hemina of vinegar. It is also given for
asthma, but with a hemina of wine added ; for this
purpose also with barley flour, vinegar too being
added, so that the dose to be swallowed is the size of
a bean. One of these doses is given morning and
evening ; then after a few days a double dose is given
in the evening. The mouths of epileptics are opened
and the blood poured by drops into them ; to those
seized with a slight convulsion is given an enema of
the blood and beaver oil. If teeth are rinsed with
tortoise blood three times a year ° they will become
immune to toothache. It is a remedy too for short-
ness of breath and for what is called orthopnoea ;
when so used it is administered in pearl barley.
Tortoise gall gives clearness of vision, effaces scars,
relieves sore tonsils, quinsy, and all diseases of
the mouth, being specific for malignant sores there
and on the testicles. If the nostrils are smeared
with it, epileptics are roused and made to stand up.
The gall too with snakes' slough and vinegar is also a
sovereign remedy for pus in the ears. Some mix ox
gall with the broth of boiled tortoise-flesh, adding the
same amount of snakes' slough, but they boil the
tortoise in wine. An application of the gall with
honey cures especially all affections of the eyes ;
cataract is also cured by the gall of sea tortoise with

a If we adopt MayhofiTs attractive emendation : " three
times with a hemina."

487

PLINY: NATIRAL HISTORY

etiam marinae fel cum fluviatilis sanguine et lacte.
capillus mulierum inficitur felle. contra sala-

39 mandras vel sucum decoctae bibisse satis est. Ter-
tium genus testudinum est in caeno et paludibus
viventium. latitudo his et in dorso pectori similis nec
convexo curvata calice, ingrata visu. ex hac quoque
tamen aliqua contingunt auxilia. tres namque in
succensa sarmenta coiectae dividentibus se tegu-
mentis rapiuntur, tum evolsae carnes earum cocuntur
in congio aquae sale modice addito ; ita decoctarum
ad tertias partes sucus paralysim et articularios mor-
bos sentientibus bibitur. detrahit idem fel pituitas
sanguinemque vitiatum. sistitur eo remedio alvus

40 aquae frigidae potu. E quarto genere testudinum,
quae sunt in amnibus, divolsarum pinguia cum aizoo
herba tunsa admixto un guento et semine lili, si ante
accessiones perunguantur aegri praeter caput, mox
convoluti calidam aquam bibant, quartanis liberare
dicuntur. hanc testudinem xv luna capi oportere,
ut plus pinguium reperiatur, verum aegrum xvi luna
perungui. ex eodem genere testudinum sanguis in-
stillatus cerebro capitis dolores sedat, item strumas.

41 sunt qui testudinum sanguinem cultro aereo supin-
arum capitibus praecisis excipi novo fictili iubeant,
ignem sacrum cuiuscumque generis sanguine inlini,
item capitis ulcera manantia, verrucas. iidem pro-

a Evidently the Magi, but for some reason Pliny withholds
the name.

BOOK XXXII. xiv. 38-41

the blood of river tortoise and milk. Womans hair
is dyed by the gall. For salamander bites it is
enough merely to drink the broth of a decoction.

A third kind of tortoise lives in mud and marshes.
These have a level width, like that across the breast,
over the back also ; this is not rounded into a cup-
like convexity — indeed an unpleasant sight. Yet
from this creature also a few remedies are obtained.
For three are together thrown on burning brush-
wood, and when the shells separate they are at once
taken ofF; the flesh is then torn away and boiled in a
congius of water with a little salt added. The broth
is boiled down to one third and taken for paralysis
and diseases of the joints. The gall of this creature
carries off phlegms and vitiated blood. This remedy
taken in cold water acts astringently on the bowels.

There is a fourth kind of tortoise, which lives in
rivers. The shells being torn off, the fats are beaten
up with houseleek mixed with unguent and lily seed.
If of a patient all the body except the head is rubbed
with this preparation before the paroxysms come on,
and he is then wrapped up and drinks hot water, he is
cured, it is said, of quartan ague. This tortoise, they
say, should be killed on the fifteenth of the moon, so
that more fats may be obtained from it, but the
patient should be rubbed on the sixteenth. The
blood too of this kind of tortoise, poured in drops on
the skull, relieves headache as well as scrofulous sores.
There are some a who recommend tortoises to be laid
on their backs, their heads chopped off with a bronze
knife, and the blood caught in new earthenware ; this
blood is to be used as embrocation for all kinds of
erysipelas, running sores on the head, and warts.
The same authorities assure us that the dung of all

489

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

mittunt testudinum omnium fimo panos discuti ; et,
quod incredibile dictu sit, aliqui tradunt tardius ire
navigia testudinis pedem dextrum vehentia.

42 XV. Hinc dcinde in morbos digeremus aquatilia,
non quia ignoremus gratiorem esse universitatem
animalium maiorisque miraculi, sed hoc utilius est
vitae, contributa habere remedia, cum aliud alii
prosit, aliud alibi facilius inveniatur.

43 XVI. Venenatum mel diximus ubi nasceretur.
auxilio est piscis aurata in cibo. vel si ex melle
sincero fastidium cruditasve, quae fit gravissima,
incidat, testudinem circumcisis pedibus, capite, cauda
decoctam antidotum esse auctor est Pelops, scincum
Apelles. quid esset scincus diximus, saepius vero

44 quantum veneficii in menstruis mulierum. contra ea
omnia auxiliatur, ut diximus, mullus, item contra
pastinacam et scorpiones terrestres marinosque et
dracones, phalangia inlitus sumptusve in cibo, eius-
dem recentis e capite cinis contra omnia venena,
privatim contra fungos. mala medicamenta inferri
negant posse aut certe nocere stella marina volpino
sanguine inlita et adfixa limini superiori aut clavo
aereo ianuae.

45 XVII . draconis marini scorpionumque ictus carni-
bus earum inpositis, item araneorum morsus sanantur.
in summa contra omnia venena vel potu vel ictu vel
morsu noxia sucus earum e iure decoctarum efficacissi-

a See XXI. § 74 foll.

6 See VIII. § 91 and XXVIII. § 119.

c See VII. § 64 and XXVIII. § 82.

490

BOOK XXXII. xiv. 41-xvii. 45

tortoises disperses superficial abscesses ; and others
tell us (an incredible remark) that vessels travel more
slowlv if the right foot of a tortoise is on board.

XV. From now on I will arrange water creatures
according to diseases, not that I do not know that a
complete account of each living thing is more attrac-
tive and more wonderful, but it is more useful to
mankind to have remedies grouped into classes, since
thev vary with individuals, and are more easily found
in one place than in another.

XVI. I have already said a where poisonous honey
is found. A remedy is the gilthead fish taken in
food. But if pure honey should cause nausea, or
indigestion that becomes very acute, an antidote is,
according to Pelops, the decoction of a tortoise with
the feet, head, and tail cut off; according to Apelles,
a similar decoction of a scincus ; I have said what a
scincus is.b Several times moreover I have said how
poisonous is the menstrual fluid of women ; c against
all forms of it, as I have said, the red mullet is a help,
as it is against the sting-ray, land- and sea-scorpions,
the weever fish, and poisonous spiders. It may be
applied locally or taken in food. A fresh red mullet's
head, reduced to ash, is an antidote to all poisons,
being specific against poisonous fungi. They say
that noxious charms cannot enter, or at least cannot
harm, homes where a star-fish, smeared with the
blood of a fox, has been fastened to the upper lintel
or to the door with a bronze nail.

XVII. By an application of tortoise flesh are healed
the stings of weever fish, of scorpions, and also the
bites of spiders. To sum up : the gravy of tortoise
meat, that is, the broth obtained by boiling it down.
is considered to be a most emcacious antidote for all

49 1

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

mus habetur. sunt et servatis piscibus medicinae,
salsamentorumque cibus prodest a serpente percussis
et contra bestiarum ictus mero subinde hausto ita, ut
per se etiam * cibus vomitione reddatur, peculiariter

46 a chalcide, ceraste aut quas sepas vocant aut elope,
dispsade percussis. contra scorpionem largius sumi,
sed non evomi, salsamenta prodest ita, ut sitis tolere-
tur ; et inponere plagis eadem convenit. contra
crocodilorum quidem morsus non aliud praesentius
habetur. privatim contra presteris morsum sarda
prodest. inponuntur salsamenta et contra canis

47 rabiosi ; vel si non sint ferro ustae plagae corporaque
clysteribus exinanita, hoc per se sufficit. et contra
draconem marinum ex aceto inponuntur. idem et
cybio effectus. draco quidem marinus ad spinae
suae, qua ferit, venenum ipse inpositus vel cerebro
toto 2 prodest.

48 XVIII. Ranarum marinarum ex vino et aceto
decoctarum sucus contra venena bibitur, et contra
ranae rubetae venenum et contra salamandras. fluvi-
atilium 3 si carnes edantur iusve decoctarum sorbe-
atur, prosunt et contra leporem marinum et contra
serpentes supra dictos, contra scorpiones ex vino.

49 Democritus quidem tradit, si quis extrahat ranae
viventi linguam, nulla alia corporis parte adhaerente,
ipsaque dimissa in aquam inponat supra cordis palpi-

1 per se etiam B2 Sillig : ad vesperam multi codd. : per
satiem Mayhoff.

2 toto multi codd. ; toti B : poto Mayhoff.

3 fluviatilium Detlefsen : fluviatilil/jiu B2: anteponunt vel e
multi codd.

a Ad vesperam would be " towards evening"; ad satiem
"toa surfeit."

6 Poto: " its brain taken in drink."

492

BOOK XXXII. xvii. 45-xvm. 49

poisons, whether conveyed in drink, by sting, or by
bite. There are also remedies from preserved fish ;
to eat salted fish is good for the bites of snakes and of
other venomous creatures, but now and then should
be drunk enough neat wine to bring back by vomiting
even the food whole ; ° the remedy is specially good
for those bitten by the chalcis lizard, horned viper,
what is called seps, elops, or dipsas. For scorpion
stings a bigger dose of salted fish is beneficial, but
not enough to cause the vomiting, or intolerable
thirst ; it is also good to lay salted nsh on the wounds.
Against the bites of crocodiles nothing else is con-
sidered to be a more sovereign remedy. The sarda
is specific against the bite of the prester. Salted fish
is also applied to the bite of a mad dog ; even if the
wound has not been cauterised with a hot iron, and
the bowels emptied with a clyster, the fish by itself
is enough. Salted fish is also applied with vinegar to
the wound given by the weever fish. The tunny too
has the same property. The weever fish indeed, if
itself, or the whole b of its brain, if applied to the
poisoned wound caused by a blow of his own spine,
makes a good remedy.

XVIII. A decoction of sea frogs c boiled down in
wine and vinegar is drunk to counteract poisons, also
that of the bramble toad and salamander ; if the
flesh of river frogs is eaten, or the broth drunk after
boiling them down, it counteracts the poison of the
sea-hare, of the snakes mentioned above, and of
scorpions if wine is used in the preparation. Demo-
critus indeed tells us that if the tongue, with no other
flesh adhering, is extracted from a living frog, and
after the frog has been set free into water, placed

c Angler-fish.

493

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

tationem mulieri dormienti, quaecumque interroga-
verit, vera responsuram. addunt etiamnum alia
Magi, quae si vera sint, multo utiliores vitae existu-
mentur ranae quam leges ; namque harundine
transfixis a * natura per os si surculus in menstruis

50 defigatur a marito, adulterorum taedium fieri. carni-
bus earum vel 2 in hamum additis praecipue purpuras
adlici certum est. iocur ranae geminum esse dicunt
abicique formicis oportere ; eam partem, quam
adpetant, contra venena omnia esse pro antidoto.
sunt quae in vepribus tantum vivunt, ob id rubetarum
nomine, ut diximus, quas Graeci <j>pvvovs vocant,
grandissimae cunctarum, geminis veluti cornibus,
plenae veneficiorum. mira de iis certatim tradunt

51 auctores : inlatis in populum silentium fieri ; ossiculo,
quod sit in dextro latere, in aquam ferventem deiecto
refrigerari vas nec postea fervere nisi exempto, id
inveniri abiecta rana formicis carnibusque erosis,
singula in oleum 3 addi ; esse in sinistro latere quo

52 deiecto fervere videatur, apocynon vocari, canum
impetus eo cohiberi, amorem concitari et iurgia
addito in potionem, venerem adalligato stimulari,

1 transfixis a B: transfixa multi codd.: transfixa a Ianus.

2 Ante vel addit nassis Sillig cum vet. Dal.

3 oleum fere omnes codd.: solium Hermolaus Barbarus:
ollam Ianus.

a Something seems wrong with this sentence, which means,
if literally translated, that frogs are pierced with a reed, and
then the husband plants a shoot. There is no indication that
the shoot is the same as the recd. Perhaps there is a lacuna
after os; perhaps too the transfixa of most MSS. is correct,
although such a use of transfigor (" a reed having been
thrust ") is rare.

b The addition of nassis is a better remedy than any other.

e See Book VIII. § 110. The word rana may be either
" frog " or " toad."

494

BOOK XXXI I. xvm. 49-52

over the beating heart of a sleeping woman, she will
give true answers to all question^.

The Magi add also other details, and if there is any
truth in them, frogs should be considered more
beneficial than laws to the life of mankind. They
say that if frogs are pierced a with a reed from the
genitals through the mouth, and if the husband plants
a ^hoot in his wife's menstrual discharge she conceives
an aversion to adulterous lovers. It is certain that
frogs' flesh placed <in weels) b or on a hook makes ex-
cellent bait for the purple-fish. It is said that the liver
of a frog is double, and should be thrown in the way
of ants ; that the part the ants attack is an antidote
for all poisons. Some frogs there are that live onlv
in brambles, and so they are called bramble-toads, as
I have said,c and by the Greeks <f>pvvoi. These are
the largest of all frogs, have as it were a pair of horns,
and are full of poison. Our authorities vie with one
another in relating marvellous stories about the
toad : that when brought into a meeting of the people
silence reigns ; that if the little bone found in its
right side is let fall into boiling water, the vessel
cools, and does not afterwards boil unless the bone is
taken out ; that it is found when a frog has been
thrown to ants and the flesh gnawed away ; that one
at a time these bones are put into oil ; d that there is
in a frog's left side a bone called " dog's bane,"
which dropped <^into oil) gives the appearance of
boiling ; by it the attacks of dogs are repelled, and
if it is put in drink love and quarrels e brought about ;
that worn as an amulet it acts as an aphrodisiac ; that

d With the reading solium, " tub "; with ollam, " pot."
e Is there a zeugnia here, " love aroused and quarrels
settled." Perhaps read conciliari.

495

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

rursus e dextro latere refrigerari ferventia ; hoc et
quartanas sanari adalligato in pellicula agnina recenti
aliasque febres, amorem inhiberi, ex isdem his ranis
lien contra venena, quae fiant ex ipsis, auxiliatur,
iocur vero etiam efficacius.

53 XIX. Est colubra in aqua vivens. huius adipem
et fel habentes qui crocodilos venentur mire adiuvari
dicunt, nihil contra belua audente, efficacius etiam-
num, si herba potamogiton misceatur. cancri fluvi-
atiles triti potique ex aqua recentes seu cinere adser-
vato contra venena omnia prosunt, privatim contra
scorpionum ictus cum lacte asinino, si non sit, caprino
aut quocumque ; addi et vinum oportet. necant eos

54 triti cum ocimo admoti. eadem vis contra venena-
torum omnium morsus, privatim scytalen et angues
et contra leporem marinum ac ranam rubetam. cinis
eorum servatus prodest pavore potus periclitantibus
ex canis rabiosi morsu. quidam adiciunt gentianam
et dant in vino, et si iam pavor occupaverit, pastillos

55 vino subactos devorandos ita praecipiunt. decem
vero cancris cum ocimi manipulo adligatis omnes, qui
ibi sint, scorpiones ad eum locum coituros Magi
dicunt, et cum ocimo ipsos cineremve eorum per-
cussis inponunt. minus in omnibus his marini pro-
sunt. Thrasyllus auctor est nihil aeque adversari
serpentibus quam cancros ; sues percussas x hoc
pabulo sibi mederi ; cum sol sit in cancro, serpentes

56 torqueri. ictibus scorpionum carnes et fluviatilium

1 percussas] percussos B.

" Pondweed ; see Indez of Plants in Vol. VII.
6 A snake of equal thickness throughout. The word means
a cylinder.

496

BOOK XXXII. xviii. 52-xix. 56

the bone again on the right side cools boiling liquids ;
that worn in fresh lamb's skin as an amulet this bone
also cures quartan and other fevers, but love is
restrained. The spleen of these frogs is also a
remedy for the poisons that come from them, while
their liver is even more efficacious.

XIX. There is a snake, a colubra, that lives in the
water. It is said that, if they have its fat 01* gall on
their persons, crocodile hunters are helped wonder-
fully, as the brute dares not attack it at all ; it is still
more efficacious when combined with the plant pota-
mogiton.0 Fresh river-crabs pounded and taken in
water, or their ash preserved, are good for all poisons,
being specific for scorpion stings, if taken with asses'
milk, or failing that with goat's or any other milk ;
wine too should be added. Pounded with basil and
applied to scorpions, river-crabs kill them. Their
property avails also against the bites of all venomous
creatures, being specific against the scytale,& snakes,
sea-hare, and bramble toad. Their ash preserved is
good for those threatened with hydrophobia from the
bite of a mad dog. Some add gentian and administer
in wine, and if hydrophobia has already set in, pre-
scribe lozenges made with the ash and wine to be
swallowed. The Magi indeed assert that if ten
crabs with a handful of basil are tied together, all
the scorpions of the district will collect to the spot,
and to those wounded by scorpions they apply with
basil either crabs themselves or else their ash. For
all these purposes sea crabs are less efficacious.
Thrasyllus avows that no antidote for snake bite is
as good as crabs ; that pigs, when bitten, cure them-
selves by taking crabs as food; and that when the
sun is in Cancer snakes are in torture. The stings

497

PLINY: XATl/RAL HISTORY

coclearum resistunt crudae vel coctae. quidam ob
id salsas quoque adservant. inponunt et plagis
ipsis. coracini pisces Nilo quidem peculiares sunt.
sed nos haec omnibus terris demonstramus. carnes
eorum adversus scorpiones valent inpositae. inter
venena piscium sunt porci marini spinae in dorso,
cruciatu magno laesorum. remedio est limus ex li-
quore x piscium eorum corporis.

57 XX. Canis rabidi morsibus potum expavescentibus
faciem perungunt adipe vituli marini, efficacius, si
medulla hyaenae et oleum e lentisco et cera mis-
ceatur.2 murenae morsus ipsarum capitis cinere

58 sanantur. et pastinaca contra suum ictum remedio
est cinere suo ex aceto inlito vel alterius. cibi causa
extrahi debet ex dorso eius quidquid croco simile est
caputque totum ; et haec 3 autem et omnia testacea
modice collui 4 cibis, quia saporis gratia perit. e
lepore marino veneficium restingunt poti hippocampi.
contra dorycnium echini maxime prosunt, et iis, qui
sucum carpathii biberint, praecipue e iure sumpti.
et cancri marini decocti ius contra dorycnium efficax
habetur, peculiariter vero contra leporis marini
venena.

59 XXI. Et ostrea adversantur isdem, nec potest
videri satis dictum esse de iis, cum palma mensarum

1 liquore coni. Mayhoff (reliquiis in textu) : reliquo aut liquo
codd.

2 misceatur codd. : rnisceantur vet. Dal., Mayhoff.

3 haec Ianus: hanc codd., Mayhoff.

4 collui in codd.: colluunt coni. Mayhoff, qui dativi (cibis)
multa exempla dat.

Thorn-apple. See Index of Plants in Yol. VII.
A narcotic plant.

498

BOOK XXXII. xix. 56-xxi. 59

of scorpions are counteracted also by the flesh of
river snails, raw or cooked. Some too keep them for
this purpose preserved in salt. They also apply
them to the wounds themselves. Though the fish
called coracini are peculiar to the Nile, I am giving
this information for the benefit of all lands. Appli-
cation of their flesh is good for scorpion stings.
Among poisonous parts of fishes are the prickles on
the back of the sea-pig, a wound from which causes
severe torture. A remedy is the slime from the
liquid part of the body of these fishes.

XX. When the bite of a mad dog causes a dread
of drink they rub the face with the fat of a seal, with
more effect if there are mixed with it the marrow of
a hyaena, mastic oil, and wax. The bites of the
murry are healed by the head of the murry itself,
reduced to ash. For the wound of the sting-ray a
remedy is the ash, of the same ray itself or of any
other specimen, applied locally in vinegar. When
the fish is used as food there should be taken from
its back whatever is like saffron, and the whole head
removed, while the ray, and all shell fish, when used
as food, should not be over-washed, as to do so spoils
the flavour. The poison of the sea-hare is counter-
acted by the sea-horse taken in drink. Sea-urchins
are very good as an antidote to dorycnium,a as they
are also for those who have drunk juice of carpathium,6
especially if they are taken in their broth. Effective
against dorycnium is also considered a decoction of
sea-crab, and indeed specific for the poison of the sea-
hare.

XXI. The same poisons are counteracted also by
oysters. About these it cannot appear that enough
has been said, seeing that they have long been con-

499

PLINY: XATURAL HISTORY

diu iam tribuatur illis. gaudent dulcibus aquis et
ubi plurumi influant * amnes ; ideo pelagia parva et
rara sunt. gignuntur tamen et in petrosis carenti-
busque aquarum dulcium adventu, sicut circa Gry-
nium et Myrinam. grandescunt sideris quidem
ratione maxime, ut in natura aquatilium diximus, sed
privatim circa initia aestatis multo lacte praegnatia

60 atque ubi sol penetret in vada. haec videtur causa,
quare minora in alto reperiantur ; opacitas cohibet
incrementum, et tristitia minus adpetunt cibos.
variantur coloribus, rufa Hispaniae, fusca Illyrico,
nigra et carne et testa Cerceis, praecipua vero haben-
tur in quacumque gente spissa nec saliva sua lubrica.
crassitudine potius spectanda quam latitudine, neque
in lutosis capta neque in harenosis, sed solido vado,
spondylo brevi atque non carnoso, nec fibris laciniosa

01 ac tota in alvo. addunt peritiores notam ambiente
purpureo crine fibras, eoque argumento generosa
interpretantur calliblephara ea 2 appellantes. gau-
dent et peregrinatione transferrique in ignotas aquas.
sic Brundisina in Averno compasta et suum retinere
sucum et a Lucrino adoptare creduntur.

62 Haec sint dicta de corpore ; dicemus et de nationi-
bus, ne fraudentur gloria sua litora, sed dicemus

1 influant Mayhoff: influunt codd. : cf. penetret infra.

2 calliblephara ea Ianus: calliblepharata d: varia ceteti
codd.

See IX. § 90.

BOOK XXXII. xxi. 59-62

sidered the prize delicacy of our tables. Oysters love
fresh water, and where there is an inflow from many
rivers ; wherefore deep-sea oysters are small and far
between. They also breed, however, in rocky
districts and places where 110 fresh water in comes,
such as around Grynium and Myrina. Their growth
corresponds very closely to the increase of the moon,
as I said a when dealing with water-creatures, but
they grow most about the beginning of summer, and
where sunshine makes its way into shallows, for
then they swell with copious, milky, juice. This
appears to be the reason why oysters found in deep
water are rather small ; darkness hinders their
growth, and their gloom robs them of appetite.

Oysters vary in colour ; red in Spain they are tawny
in Illyricum, and black, both flesh and shell, in
Circeii. In every country, however, those are most
prized that are compact, not greasy with their own
slime, remarkable for thickness rather than breadth,
taken from water neither muddy nor sandy, but from
that with a hard bottom, those whose meat is short
and not fleshy, those without fringed edges, and lying
wholly in the hollow of the shell.

Experts add a mark of distinction : if a purple line
encircle the beard, they consider such oysters to be
of a nobler type, and call them " beautifully eye-
browed." Oysters like to travel and be moved into
strange waters. And so oysters of Brundisium that
have fed in Lake Avernus are believed to retain their
own flavour as well as acquire that of the oysters of
Lake Lucrinus.

So much for their bodies. I will now speak of the
countries that breed oysters, lest the shores should
be cheated of their proper fame ; but I shall do so

501

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

aliena lingua quaeque peritissima huius censurae in
nostro aevo fuit.1 sunt ergo Muciani verba, quae
subiciam : Cyzicena maiora Lucrinis, dulciora Brit-
tannicis, suaviora Medullis, acriora Ephesis, pleniora
Iliciensibus, sicciora Coryphantenis, teneriora Histri-
cis, candidiora Cerceiensibus. sed his neque dulciora

63 neque teneriora ulla esse compertum est. in Indico
mari Alexandri rerum auctores pedalia inveniri pro-
didere, nec non inter nos nepotis 2 cuiusdam nomen-
clatura tridacna appellavit, tantae amplitudinis
intellegi cupiens, ut ter mordenda essent.

64 Dos eorum medica hoc in loco tota dicetur ; sto-
machum unice reficiunt,fastidiis medentur, addiditque
luxuria frigus obrutis nive, summa montium et maris
ima miscens. emolliunt alvum leniter. eademque
cocta cum mulso tenesmo, qui sine exulceratione sit,
liberant. vesicarum ulcera quoque repurgant. cocta
in conchis suis, uti clusa invenerint, mire destilla-

65 tionibus prosunt. testae ostreorum cinis uvam sedat
et tonsillas admixto melle, eodem modo parotidas,
panos mammarumque duritias, capitum ulcera ex
aqua cutemque mulierum extendit ; inspergitur et
ambustis. et dentifricio placet. pruritibus quoque
et eruptionibus pituitae ex aceto medetur. purpurae

1 fuit codd. : fuerit vel fit coni. Mayhoff.

2 nepotis] Frohner Xepotis coni.

a A tax-free colony on the coast of Spain.
h There is a difference of opinion as to where the quotation
ends. Some stop here, some at Circeiensibus, Jan at essent.
e With Frohner's emendation " one Xepos."
d From Tpls " thrice " and haxvai " I bite."

502

BOOK XXXII. xxi. 62-65

in the words of another, one who was the greatest
connoisseur of such matters in our time. These then
are the words of Mucianus, which I will quote : —

Oysters of Cyzicus are larger than those of Lake
Lucrinus, fresher than the British, sweeter than those
of Medullae, sharper than the Ephesian, fuller than
those of Ilici,° less slimy than those of Coryphas,
softer than those of Histria, whiter than those of
Circeii.

It is agreed, however, that none are fresher or
softer than the last.b The writers of Alexander's
expedition tell us that in the Indian sea are found
oysters a foot long, and among ourselves a spend-
thrift c has invented the nickname tridacna,'1 wishing
it to be used of oysters so large that they require
three bites.

I shall give all their medical virtues at this point.
Oysters are specific for settling the stomach, they
restore lost appetite, and luxury has added coolness
by burying them in snow, thus wedding the tops of
the mountains to the bottom of the sea. They are
a gentle laxative. They also, if boiled with honey
wine, cure tenesmus if there is no ulceration. They
also clean an ulcerated bladder. Boiled, unopened
as gathered, in their shells, they are wonderfully
good for streaming colds. Reduced to ash and mixed
with honey oyster shells relieve troubles of the
uvula and tonsils, similarly parotid swellings,
superficial abscesses and indurations of the breasts.
Applied with water the ash cures sores on the head
and smooths the skin of women. It is sprinkled on
burns and is popular as a dentifrice. Applied also
with vinegar it cures itch and eruptions of phlegm.
The purple-fish too is a good antidote to poisons.

503

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

quoque contra venena prosunt. crudae si tundantur,
strumas sanant et perniones pedum.

66 XXII. Et algam maris theriacen esse Nicander
tradit. plura eius genera, ut diximus, longo folio et
rubente, latiore alia vel crispo. laudatissima quae
in Creta insula iuxta terram in petris nascitur, tingu-
endis etiam lanis, ita colorem alligans, ut elui postea
non possit. e vino iubet eam dari.

67 XXIII. Alopecias replet hippocampi cinis nitro et
adipe suillo mixtus aut sincerus ex aceto, praeparat
autem saepiarum crustae farina medicamentis cutem ;
replet et muris marini cinis cum oleo, item echini cum
carnibus suis cremati, fei scorpionis marini, ranarum
quoque trium, si vivae in olla concrementur, cinis cum
melle, melius cum pice liquida. capillum denigrant
sanguisugae, quae in vino nigro diebus xxxx com-

68 putuere. aliiin aceti sextariis duobus sanguisugarum
sextarium in vase plumbeo putrescere iubent totidem
diebus, mox inlini in sole. Sornatius tantam vim
hanc tradit, ut, nisi oleum ore contineant qui tinguent,
dentes quoque suco x earum denigrari dicat. Capitis
ulceribus muricum vel purpurarum testae cinis cum
melle utiliter inlinitur, conchyliorum vel, si non
uratur, farina ex aqua, doloribus castoreum cum
peucedano et rosaceo.

1 Post quoque add. suco Mayhojj.

a See Theriaca 845.

6 Book XXVI. § 103.

c Or, " close to dry land."

504

BOOK XXXII. xxi. 65-xxm. 68

Beaten up raw, oysters cure scrofulous sores and
chilblains on the feet.

XXII. Seaweed too is said by Nicander a to be an
antidote. There are many kinds of it, as I have said : b
one with a long, red leaf, another with a broader leaf,
and a third with a curly one. The most prized is the
one growing near the ground c in the island of Crete
among the rocks, for this dyes even wool with a
colour so fixed that it cannot be washed out after-
wards. Nicander recommends it to be given in wine.

XXIII. Hair lost through mange is restored by
ashes of the sea-horse, either mixed with soda and
pig's lard, or else by itself in vinegar; the skin how-
ever must be prepared for medicaments by the rind
of the sepia cuttle-fish ground to powder. It is
restored also by the ash of the sea-mouse with oil, by
that of the sea-urchin burnt with its flesh, by the
gall of the sea-scorpion, also by the ash of three frogs
with honey, better with liquid pitch, but the frogs
must be burnt together alive in a jar. Leeches
blacken the hair if they have rotted for forty days in
a red wine. Others recommend that for the same
number of days a sextarius of leeches be allowed to
rot in a leaden vessel containing two sextarii of
vinegar, and that then they should be applied in the
sun. Sornatius tells us that they have such power
that unless those who are going to dye keep oil in the
mouth, the extract from the leeches blackens the
teeth as well. To sores on the head are applied with
honey beneficially shells of murex or purple-fish,
reduced to ash ; those of any shell-fish, ground to
powder if not burned, and applied in water, are also
beneficial. For headache use beaver-oil with peuce-
danum and rose-oil.

505

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

69 XXIV. Omnium piscium fluviatilium marinorum-
que adipes liquefacti sole admixto melle oculorum
claritati plurimum conferunt, item castoreum cum
melle. callionymi fel cicatrices sanat et carnes
oculorum supervaeuas consumit. nulli hoc piscium
copiosius, ut existumavit Menander quoque in como-
ediis. idem piscis et uranoscopos vocatur ab oculo,

70 quem in capite habet. et coracini fel excitat visum,
et marini scorpionis rufi cum oleo vetere aut melle
Attico incipientes suffusiones discutit ; inungui ter
oportet intermissis diebus. eadem ratio albugines
oculorum tollit. mullorum cibo aciem oculorum
hebetari tradunt. lepus marinus ipse quidem vene-
natus est, sed cinis eius in palpebris pilos inutiles
evolsos cohibet. ad hunc usum utilissimi minimi,
item pectunculi salsi triti cum cedria, ranae, quas
diopetas et calamitas vocant; earum sanguis cum

71 lacrima vitis evolso pilopalpebris inlinatur. tumorem
oculorum ruboremque saepiae cortex cum lacte
mulieris inlitus sedat et per se scabritias emendat ;
invertunt ita genas et medicamentum auferunt post
paulum rosaceoque inungunt et pane inposito miti-
gant. eodem cortice et nyctalopes curantur, in
farinam trito ex aceto inlito. extrahit et squamas

72 eius cinis. cicatrices oculorum cum melle sanat,
pterygia cum sale et cadmia singulis drachmis,
emendat et albugines iumentorum. aiunt et ossiculo
eius genas, si terantur, sanari. echini ex aceto

a In Aelian XIII. 4 ; Meineke IV. p. 79.

b I.e. " stargazer."

c l.e. " fallen from Jupiter." a The " green-frog."

506

BOOK XXXII. xxiv. 69-72

XXIV. Of all fish, river or sea, the fats, melted in
the sun and mixed with honey, are very good for
clearness of vision, and so is beaver oil and honey.
The gall of the star-gazer heals scars, and removes
superfluous flesh about the eyes. No other fish has
a greater abundance of gall ; this opinion, Menander"
too expresses in his comedies. This fish is also called
uranoscopos,& from the eye which it has in its head.
The gall of the coracinus too improves vision, and
that of the red sea-scorpion with old oil and Attic
honey disperses incipient cataract ; it should be
applied as ointment three times, once every other day.
The same treatment removes albugo from the eyes.
A diet of mullet is said to dull the eye-sight. Though
the sea-hare itself is poisonous, yet reduced to ash it
prevents from growing again superfluous hair on the
eyelids that has been plucked out. For this purpose
the most useful specimens are the smallest ; also
small scallops, salted and pounded with cedar rezin,
frogs called diopetae c or ealamitae ; d their blood, with
vine tear-gum, should be rubbed on the lids after
plucking out the hair. Swellings and redness of the
eyes are soothed by an application of sepia bone with
woman's milk, and by itself it is good for roughness
of the lids. In this cure they turn up the lids, taking
offthe ointment after a little time, treat the part with
rose-oil and soothe with a bread-poulticc. The bone
is also good treatment for night-blindness, if ground
to powder and applied in vinegar. Reduced to ash
it brings away scales ; with honey it heals scars on
the eyes ; with salt and cadmia, a drachma of each,
it heals inflammatory swellings, and also albugo in
cattle. They say that eyelids, if rubbed by its small
bone, are healed. Urchins in vinegar remove night

507

PLINY: NAITRAL HISTORY

epinyctidas tollunt. eundem comburi cum viperinis
pellibus ranisque et cinerem aspergi potionibus

73 iubent Magi, claritatem visus promittentes. ich-
tliyocolla appellatur piscis, cui glutinosum est corium.
idem nomen glutino eius ; hoc epinyctidas tollit.
quidam ex ventre, non e corio, fieri dicunt ichthyo-
collam, ut glutinum taurinum. laudatur Pontica,
candida et carens venis squamisque et quae celerrime
liquescit. madescere autem debet concisa in aqua
aut aceto nocte ac die, mox tundi marinis lapidibus,
ut facilius liquescat. utilem eam et capitis doloribus

74 adfirmant et tetanis. ranae dexter oculus dextri,
sinister laevi, suspensi e collo nativi coloris panno
lippitudines sanant ; quod si per coitum lunae eruan-
tur, albuginem quoque, adalligati, similiter in puta-
mine ovi. reliquae carnes inpositae suggillationem
rapiunt. cancri etiam oculos adalligatos collo mederi

75 lippitudini dicunt. est parva rana in harundinetis et
herbis maxime vivens, muta ac sine voce, viridis, si
forte hauriatur, ventres boum distendens. huius
corporis umorem derasum specillis claritatem oculis
inunctis narrant adferre. et ipsas carnes doloribus
oculorum superponunt. ranas xv coiectas in fictile
novum iuncis configunt quidam sucoque earum, qui
ita effluxerit, admiscent vitis albae lacrimam atque
ita palpebras emendant, inutilibus pilis exemptis acu

" The fish is our sturgeon, and its glue is isinglass.
508

BOOK XXXII. xxiv. 72-75

rashes. The Magi recommend the same to be burnt
with vipers' skins and frogs, and the ash to be
sprinkled into drinks ; they assure us that clearer
vision will result. Ichthyocolla a is the name of a fish
that has a sticky skin ; the same name is given to the
glue of the fish ; this disperses night rashes. Some
say that ichthyocolla is made from the belly and not
from the skin, just as is bull glue. Pontic ichthyo-
colla is popular, being white, free from veins and
scales, and melting very quickly. It ought, however,
to be cut up and soaked in water or vinegar for a night
and a day, and then to be pounded by sea-pebbles,
to make it melt more readily. They assure us that
it is useful both for headache and for all tetanus.
The right eye of a frog hung round the neck in a piece
of undyed cloth cures ophthalmia in the right eye ;
the left eye similarly tied cures ophthalmia in the
left. But if the frog's eyes are gouged out when the
moon is in conjunction, and worn similarly by the
patient, enclosed in an egg-shell, it will also cure
albugo. The rest of the flesh, if applied, quickly
takes away bruises. An amulet of crabs' eyes also,
worn on the neck, are said to cure ophthalmia.
There is a small frog, found living especially in reed-
beds and grasses, deaf, without a croak, and green,
which, if it by chance is swallowed, swells up the
bellies of oxen. They say that the fluid of its body,
scraped off with a spatula and applied to the eyes,
improves vision. The flesh by itself is placed over
painful eyes. Some put together into a new earthen
jar fifteen frogs, piercing them with rushes ; to the
fluid that thus exudes they add the gum of the white
vine, and so treat eyelids ; superfluous hairs are
plucked out, and the mixture dropped with a needle

5°9

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

installantes hunc sucum in vestigia evolsorum.

76 Meges psilotrum palpebrarum faciebat in aceto
enecans putrescentes et ad hoc utebatur multis variis-
que per aquationes autumni nascentibus. idem prae-
stare sanguisugarum cinis ex aceto inlitus putatur —
comburi eas oportet in novo vaso — idem thynni iocur
siccatum pondere X im cum oleo cedrino perunctis
pilis novem mensibus.

77 XXV. Auribus utilissimum batiae piscis fel recens,
sed et inveteratum vino,1 item bacchi, quem quidam
mizyenem 2 vocant, item callionymi cum rosaceo in-
fusam vel castoreum cum papaveris suco. vocant et
in mari peduculos eosque tritos instillari ex aceto
auribus iubent. et per se 3 et conchylio infecta lana
magnopere prodest; quidam aceto et nitro made-

78 faciunt. sunt qui praecipue contra omnia aurium
vitia laudent gari excellentis cyathum, mellis dimidio
amplius, aceti cyathum in calice novo leni pruna deco-
quere subinde spuma pinnis detersa et, postquam
desierit spumare, tepidum infundere. si tumeant
aures, coriandri suco prius mitigandas iidem praecipi-
unt. ranarum adips instillatus statim dolores tollit.
cancrorum fluviatilium sucus cum farina hordeacea
aurium volneribus efficacissime prodest. parotides
muricum testae cinere cum melle vel conchyliorum
ex mulso curantur.

1 vino codd.: nitro Mayhoff, qui XXXI, 111 (117) confert.

- mizyenem B, Detlefsen, Mayhoff: varia codd.

3 ex per se codd. : operire coni. Mayhoff ex Marcello.

510

BOOK XXXII. xxiv. 7,--xxv

I D

into the holes made by the plucked-out hairs. Meges
used to make a depilatory for the eyelids by killing
frogs in vinegar and letting them putrefy ; for this
purpose he used the many spotted frogs that breed
in the autumn rains. The same effect is thought to
be produced by leeches reduced to ash and applied
in vinegar ; they must be burnt in a new vessel. The
same effects too by the dried liver of a tunny, in doses
of four denarii added to cedar oil and applied to the
hairs for nine months.

XXV. Most beneficial to the ears is the fresh gall
of the skate, but also vvhen preserved in wine, the
gall of grey mullet, which some call mizyene, and also
that of the star-gazer with rose-oil poured into the
ears, or beaver oil poured into the ears with poppy
juice. There is a creature called the sea-louse, and
they recommend sea-lice to be crushed and dropped
into the ears in vinegar. Wool, both by itself and
dyed with the purple fish, is very good for ear troubles ;
some moisten it with vinegar and soda. Some there
are who recommend as a sovereign remedy for all
ear troubles a cyathus of first-grade garum, half as
much again honey, with a cyathus of vinegar, to be
boiled down in a new cup over a slow fire, every
now and then wiping away the froth with feathers,
and when the mixture has ceased to froth, to pour it
into the ears when tepid. Should the ears be swollen,
the same authorities prescribe that the swellings
should be first reduced with juice of coriander.
Frog fat dropped into the ears immediately takes
away pains. The juice of river crabs with barley flour
is most beneficial for wounds of the ears. The ash of
murex shell with honey, or that of other shell-fish in
honey wine. is good treatment for parotid swellings.

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

79 XXVI. Dentium dolores sedantur ossibus draconis
marini scariphatis gingivis, cerebro caniculae in oleo
decocto adservatoque, ut ex eo dentes semel anno
colluantur. pastinacae quoque radio scariphari gin-
givas in dolore utilissimum contritus. is et cum helle-
boro albo inlitus dentes sine vexatione extrahit.
salsamentorum etiam <(in) x fictili vase combustorum

80 cinis addita farina marmoris inter remedia est. et
cybia vetera eluta in novo vase, dein trita prosunt
doloribus. aeque prodesse dicuntur omnium sal-
samentorum spinae combustae tritaeque et inlitae.
decocuntur et ranae singulae in aceti heminis, ut
dentes ita colluantur contineaturque in ore sucus.
si fastidium obstaret, suspendebat pedibus posteriori-
bus eas Sallustius Dionysius, ut ex ore virus deflueret
in acetum fervens, idque e pluribus ranis ; fortioribus
stomachis ex iure mandendas dabat. maxillaresque
ita sanari praecipue dentes putant, mobiles vero

81 supra dicto aceto stabiliri. ad hoc quidam ranarum
corpora binarum praecisis pedibus in vini hemina
macerant et ita collui dentium labantes iubent.
aliqui totas adalligant maxillis. alii denas in sextariis
tribus aceti decoxere ad tertias partes, ut mobiles
dentium stabilirent. nec non xlvi 2 ranarum corda
in olei veteris sextario sub aereo testo discoxere, ut
infunderent per aurem dolentis maxillae. alii iocur
ranae decoctum et tritum cum melle inposuere denti-

1 in post etiam add. Mayhoff.

2 XLVI B, Sillig : XXXVI ceteri codd.

512

BOOK XXXII. xxvi. 79-81

XXVI. Toothache is relieved by scraping the gums
with the bones of the weever fish, or by the brain of
a dog-fish boiled down in oil and kept, so that the
teeth may be washed with it once every year. To
scrape the gums too with the ray of the sting-ray is
very beneficial for toothache. This ray if pounded
and applied with white hellebore brings out teeth
without any distress. Salted fish also, reduced to
ash in an earthen vessel and mixed with powdered
marble, is another remedy. Old slices of tunny
rinsed in a new vessel and then beaten up, are good
for toothaches. Equally good are said to be the
backbones of any salted fish, burnt, pounded, and
applied. A single frog is boiled down in one hemina
of vinegar, so that the teeth may be rinsed with the
juice, which should be held in the mouth. Should
the nasty taste be an objection, Sallustius Dionysius
used to hang frogs by their hind legs so that the fluid
from their mouths might drop into boiling vinegar,
and that from several frogs. For stronger stomachs
he prescribed the frogs themselves, to be eaten with
their broth. It is thought that double teeth yield
best to this treatment, when loose indeed the vinegar
spoken of above is thought to make them firm. For
this purpose some cut off the feet of two frogs and
soak the bodies in a hemina of wine, and recommend
loose teeth to be rinsed with the liquid. Some tie
whole frogs on the jaws as an amulet ; others have
boiled down ten frogs in three sextarii of vinegar to
one third the volume, in order to strengthen loose
teeth. Furthermore they have boiled the hearts of
46 frogs under a copper vessel in one sextarius of old
oil, to be poured into the ear on the side of the aching
jaw. Others have boiled the liver of a frog, beaten

513

VOL. VIII. S

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

82 bus. omnia supra scripta ex marina efficaciora. si
cariosi et faetidi sint, cetum in furno arefieri per
noctem praecipiunt, postea tantundem salis addi
atque ita fricari. enhydris vocatur a Graecis colubra
in aqua vivens. huius quattuor dentibus superioribus
in dolore superiorum gingivas scariphant, inferiorum
inferioribus ; aliqui canino tantum earum contenti
sunt. utuntur et cancrorum cinere, nam muricum
cinis dentifricium est.

83 XXVII. Lichenas et lepras tollit adips vituli
marini, menarum cinis cum mellis obolis ternis, iocur
pastinacae in oleo coctum, hippocampi aut delphini *
cinis ex aqua inlitus. exulcerationem sequi debet
curatio, quae perducit ad cicatricem. quidam del-
phini in fictili torrent, donec pinguitudo similis oleo

84 fluat ; hac 2 perungunt. muricum vel conchyliorum
testae cinis maculas in facie mulierum purgat cum
melle inlitus cutemque erugat et extendit septenis
diebus inlitus ita, ut octavo candido ovorum fove-
antur. muricum generis sunt quae vocant Graeci
coluthia, alii coryphia, turbinata aeque, sed minora,
multo efficaciora, etiam oris halitum custodientia.
ichthyocolla erugat cutem extenditque in aqua
decocta horis quattuor, dein contusa et subacta

85 ad liquorem usque mellis. ita praeparata in vase
novo conditur et in usu quattuor drachmis eius

1 delphini Mayhoff: delphinu B2dT : delphini iecur vulg.

2 hac Mayhoff: ac fere omnes codd.

a Apparently pinguitudinem is to be understood with
delphini.

514

BOOK XXXII. xxvi. 82-xxvii. 85

it up with honey, and placed it on the teeth. All the
above prescriptions are more efficacious if the sea
frog is used. If the teeth are decayed and foul, they
recommend whale's flesh to be dried for a night in a
furnace, and then the same amount of salt to be
added and the whole to be used as a dentifrice. The
enhydris is a snake so-called by the Greeks and living
in water. With four upper teeth of this creature
they scrape the upper gums, when there is aching of
the upper teeth, and with four lower teeth the lower
gums when there is aching in the lower teeth.
Some are content to use the canine tooth only of
these creatures. They also use the ash of crabs, but
the ash of the murex makes a dentifrice.

XXVII. Lichens and leprous sores are removed by
the fat of the seal, the ash of menae with three oboli
of honey, the liver of the sting-ray boiled in oil, or
the ash of the sea-horse or dolphin applied with
water. Ulceration should be followed by treatment,
which results in a scar. Some roast dolphin fat a in
an earthen jar until it flows like oil ; this they use as
ointment. The shell of murex or other shell-fish
reduced to ash clears spots from the faces of women,
remove wrinkles, and fill out the skin, if applied with
honey for seven days, but on the eighth day there
should be fomentation with white of egg. To the
class murex belong the shell-fish called by the Greeks
coluihia, by others coryphia, equally conical but
smaller and much more efficacious, and they also
keep the breath sweet. Fish-glue removes wrinkles
and fills out the skin; prepared by boiling down in
water for four hours and then kneading until liquid
like honey. After being thus prepared it is stored
away in a new vessel, and when used four drachmae

515

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

binae sulpuris et anchusae totidem, octo spumae
argenteae adduntur aspersaque aqua teruntur una.
sic inlita facies post quattuor horas abluitur. mede-
tur et lentigini ceterisque vitiis ex ossibus saepiarum
cinis. idem et carnes excrescentes tollit et umida
ulcera. psoras tollit rana decocta in heminis quinque
aquae marinae ; excoqui debet, donec sit lentitudo

86 mellis. Fit in mari alcyoneum appellatum, e nidis,
ut aliqui existumant, alcyonum et ceycum, ut alii,
sordibus spumarum crassescentibus, alii e limo vel
quadam maris languine. quattuor eius genera :
cinereum, spissum, odoris asperi, alterum molle,
lenius odore et fere algae, tertium x candidioris ver-
miculi, quartum pumicosius, spongeae putri simile.

87 paene purpureum quod optimum ; hoc et Milesium
vocatur. quo candidius autem, hoc minus probabile
est. vis eorum ut exulcerent, purgent. usus tostis 2
et sine oleo. mire lepras, lichenas, lentigines tollunt
cum lupino et sulpuris duobus obolis. alcyoneo
utuntur et ad oculorum cicatrices. Andreas ad lepras
cancri cinere cum oleo usus est, Attalus thynni adipe
recenti.

88 XXVIII. Oris ulcera menarum muria et capitum
cinis cum melle sanat. strumas pungi piscis eius, qui
rana marina appellatur, ossiculo e cauda ita, ut non
volneret, prodest. faciendum id cotidie, donec per-

1 Post tertiuin velit forma supplere Mayhoff.

2 tostis] an lotis? Mayhoff.

a Exulcerare may mean " to clear away ulcers."
6 Mayhoff suggests " washed."

5"6

BOOK XXXII. xxvii. 85-xxvra. 88

of it, two of sulphur, two of alkanet, eight of litharge,
are mixed, sprinkled with water, and pounded
together. Applied to the face this mixture is
washed off after four hours. Freckles too and the
other facial affections are treated by the calcined
bones of cuttle-fish ; they also remove excrescences
of flesh and running sores. Itch-scab is removed by
the decoction of a frog in five heminae of sea-water ;
the boiling should continue until the consistency is
that of honey. In the sea is found a substance called
alcyoneum, some think out of the nests of the alcyon
and the ceyx, others out of clotted sea-foam, others
from the slime of the sea or from what might be
called its down. There are four kinds of it : the first
is ash-coloured, compact, and of a pungent smell ;
the second is milder in smell, which is almost that of
sea-weed ; the third is in shape like a whitish grub ;
the fourth is rather like pumice, resembling rotten
sponge. The best is almost purple, and is also called
Milesian. The whiter alcyoneum is the less valuable
it is. The property of alcyoneum is to ulcerate ° and
to cleanse. When used it is parched,b and applied
without oil. With lupins and two oboli of sulphur it
removes wonderfully well leprous sores, lichens, and
freckles. It is also used for scars on the eyes.
Andreas used for leprous sores crabs reduced to ash
and applied with oil, Attalus the fresh fat of the
tunny.

XXVIII. Ulcers in the mouth are healed by the
brine of menae, and by their heads reduced to ash
and applied with honey. For scrofulous sores it is
good to prick them, but not causing a wound, with
the little bone from the tail of the fish called the sea-
frog. This should be done daily, until the cure is

5*7

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

curentur. eadem vis est pastinacae radio et lepori
marino inposito ita, ut celeriter removeatur, echini
testis contusis et ex aceto inlitis, item scolopendrae
marinae e melle, cancro rluviatili contrito vel com-
busto ex melle. mirifice prosunt et saepiae ossa cum

89 axungia vetere contusa et inlita. sic et ad parotidas
utuntur, et sauri piscis marini iocineribus, quin et
testis cadi salsamentarii tusis cum axungia vetere,
muricum cinere ex oleo ad parotidas strumasque.
rigor cervicis mollitur et marinis, qui pediculi vocan-
tur, drachma pota, castoreo poto cum pipere ex mulso
mixto, ranis decoctis ex oleo et sale, ut sorbeatur
sucus. sic et opisthotono medentur et tetano,

90 spasticis vero pipere adiecto. Anginas menarum sal-
sarum e capitibus cinis ex melle inlitus abolet,
ranarum decoctarum aceto sucus ; hic et contra
tonsillas prodest. cancri fluviatiles triti singuli in
hemina aquae anginis medentur gargarizati, aut e
vino et calida aqua poti. uvae medetur garum
coclearibus subditum. vocem siluri recentes salsive
in cibo sumpti adiuvant.

91 XXIX. Vomitiones mulli inveterati tritique in
potione concitant. Suspiriosis castorea cum Ham-
moniaci exigua portione ex aceto mulso ieiunis utilis-
sima potu. eadem potio spasmos stomachi sedat ex

5i8

BOOK XXXII. xxviii. 88-xxix. 91

complete. The same property is possessed by the
sting of the sting-ray and by the sea-hare, but the
application must be quickly removed, with the shells
of the urchin crushed and applied in vinegar, by the
sea-scolopendra too applied in honey, and by river-
crabs, crushed or burnt and applied in honey.
Wonderfully good too are the bones of cuttle-fish
crushed with old axle-grease and applied. The same
prescription is used for parotid swellings as well,
as is the liver of the horse-mackerel, and even the
crushed pieces of a jar in which fish have been salted,
applied with old axle-grease ; the ash of the murex
is applied with oil for parotid swellings and scrofulous
sores.

A stiff neck is softened by what are called sea-lice,
the dose being a drachma taken in drink, by beaver
oil mixed with pepper and taken in honey-wine, and
by frogs boiled down in oil and salt for the liquor to
be swallowed. This prescription is treatment for
opisthotonus and tetanus. For spasms, however,
pepper is added. Quinsy is cured by an application
in honey of the heads of salted menae, and by the
liquor of frogs boiled down in vinegar, which last is
also good for diseased tonsils. River crabs pounded
one by one in a hemina of water make a healing gargle
for quinsy, or they may be taken in wine and warm
water. Garum, placed beneath the uvula with a
spoon, is good treatment for it. Fresh or salted
silurus taken as food improve the voice.

XXIX. Red mullet, preserved, crushed and taken
in drink, is an emetic. For asthma is very beneficial
beaver oil taken fasting in oxymel with a small quan-
tity of sal ammoniac. This draught also calms
stomach spasms when taken in warm oxymel. A

5X9

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

'.'2 aeeto mulso caldo. Tussim sanare dicuntur piscium
modo e iure decoctae in patinis ranae. suspensae
autem pedibus, cum destillaverit in patinas saliva
earum, exinterari iubentur abiectisque interaneis
condiri. est rana parva arborem scandens atque ex
ea vociferans ; in huius os si quis expuat ipsamque
dimittat, tussi liberari narratur. praecipiunt et
cocleae crudae carnem tritam bibere ex aqua calda
in tussi cruenta.

93 XXX. Iocineris doloribus . . . scorpio marinus in
vino necatus, ut inde bibatur, conchae longae carnes
ex mulso potae cum aquae pari modo aut, si febres
sint, ex aqua mulsa. Lateris dolores leniunt hippo-
campi tosti sumpti tetheaque similis ostreo in cibo
sumpta, ischiadicorum muria siluri elystere infusa.
dantur autem conchae ternis obolis dilutis in vini
sextariis duobus per dies xv.

94 XXXI. Alvum emollit silurus e iure et torpedo in
cibo et olus marinum simile sativo — stomacho inimi-
cum alvum facillime purgat, sed propter acrimoniam
cum pingui carne coquitur — et omnium piscium ius.
idem et urinas ciet, e vino maxime. optimum e
scorpionibus et iulide et saxatilibus nec virus resi-
pientibus nec pinguibus. coci debent cum aneto,

95 apio, coriandro, porro, additis oleo, sale. purgant et
cybia vetera, privatimque cruditates, pituitas, bilem
trahunt.

In fcaste? Tethea is a sea-squirt.

BOOK XXXII. xxix. 92-xxxi. 95

cough is said to be cured by frogs boiled down in a
pan as are fish in their own liquor. A prescription is :
the frogs to be hung up by the feet, their saliva
allowed to drip into a pan, and then, after being
gutted, they are preserved after the entrails have
been cast aside. There is a small frog that climbs
trees and croaks loudly out of them. If a person
with a cough spits into the mouth of one of these and
lets it go, he is said to be cured of the complaint.
For a cough with spitting of blood is prescribed the
raw flesh of a snail beaten up and taken in warm water.

XXX. For liver pains are good : . . . a sea scorpion
drowned in wrine, so that the liquor may be drunk, or
the flesh of the long mussel taken in honey wine with
an equal quantity of water, or if there is fever in
hydromel. Pains in the side are relieved by eating
the flesh of the sea-horse roasted, or the tethea,
which resembles a the oyster, taken in the food ;
sciatica is relieved by the brine of the silurus, injected
as an enema. Mussels too are given for fifteen days
in doses of three oboli soaked in two sextarii of wine.

XXXI. The bowels are relaxed by the silurus,
taken with its broth, by the torpedo, taken in food,
by the sea-cabbage, which is like the cultivated kind
— it is bad for the stomach but readily purges the
bowels, and owing to its pungency is boiled with fat
meat — and by the liquor of any boiled fish ; the last
is also diuretic, especially when taken in wine. The
best is from the sea-scorpion, the wrasse, and the
rock-fish, which are neither of a rank taste nor fatty.
They should be boiled with dill, parsley, coriander,
leeks, and with oil added and salt. Purgative too is
stale tunny sliced, and it is specific for bringing away
undigested food, phlegm and bile.

521

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

Purgant et myaces, quorum natura tota in hoc loco
dicetur. acervantur muricum modo vivuntque in
algosis, gratissimi autumno et ubi multa dulcis aqua
miscetur mari, ob id in Aegypto laudatissimi. pro-
cedente hieme amaritudinem trahunt coloremque

96 rubrum. horum ius traditur alvum et vesicas exin-
anire, interanea destringere, omnia adaperire, renes
purgare, sanguinem adipemque minuere. itaque
utilissimi sunt hydropicis, mulierum purgationibus,
morbo regio, articulario, inflationibus, item obesis,
fellis pituitae,1 pulmonis, iocineris, lienis vitiis,
rheumatismis. fauces tantum vexant vocemque

97 obtundunt. ulcera, quae serpant aut sint purganda,
sanant, item carcinomata cremati ut murices ; et
morsus canum hominumque cum melle, lepras, lenti-
gines. cinis eorum lotus emendat caligines, sca-
britias, albugines, gingivarum et dentium vitia,
eruptiones pituitae ; et contra dorycnium aut opo-

98 carpathum antidoti vicem optinent. degenerant in
duas species : mitulos, qui salem virusque resipiunt,
myiscas quae rotunditate diflferunt, minores aliquanto
atique hirtae, tenuioribus testis, carne dulciores.
mituli quoque ut murices cinere causticam vim habent
et ad lepras. lentigines, maculas. lavantur 2 quoque
plumbi modo ad genarum crassitudines et oculorum
albugines caliginesque atque in aliis partibus sordida
ulcera capitisque pusulas. carnes eorum ad canis
morsus inponuntur.

99 At pelorides emolliunt alvum, item castorea in

1 pituitae muUi codd.: pituitacque B: pituitae quoque
Maykqff: an felli?

2 lavantur] lavatur coni. Mayhoff.

a With Mayhoff' s conjecture (probably correct) " the ash is
washed."

522

BOOK XXXII. xxxi. 95-99

The myax also is purgative, and in this place shall
be set forth all its characteristics. These animals form
clusters, as does the murex, and live where sea-weed
lies thick, for which reason they are most delicious
in autumn, and from regions where much fresh water
mingles with salt, for which reason it is in Egypt that
they are most esteemed. As the winter advances,
they contract a bitter taste, and a red colour. Their
liquor is said to be a thorough purge of belly and
bladder, cleanses the intestines, is a universal
aperient, purges the kidneys, and reduces blood and
fat. Hence these shell-fish are very beneficial for
dropsy, menstruation, jaundice, diseases of the
joints, flatulence, obesity also, bilious phlegm,
affections of lungs, liver, and spleen, and for catarrhs,
Their only drawback is that they harm the throat
and obstruct the voice. Ulcers that are creeping or
need cleansing they heal, and also, if burnt as is the
murex, malignant growths. With honey added they
heal the bites of dogs and men, leprous sores, and
freckles. Their ash, washed, is good for dim
vision, roughness and white u]cers of the eyes,
affections of the gums and teeth and outbursts of
phlegm. Against dorycnium and opocarpathum they
serve as an antidote. There are two inferior kinds :
the mitulus, with a salty, strong taste ; the myisca,
different in its roundness, rather smaller and hairy,
with thinner shell and sweeter flesh. The mitulus
too like the murex has a caustic ash good for leprous
sores, freckles, and spots. They are washed a also
as is lead for thick eye-lids, white ulcers, dim vision,
dirty ulcers in other parts. and pustules 011 the head.
Their flesh makes an application for dog bites.

But clams relax the bowels, as does beaver oil in

523

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

aqua mulsa drachmis binis. qui vehementius volunt
uti, addunt cucumeris sativi radicis siccae drachmam
et ephronitri duas tethea, torminibus et inflationibus
occurrunt. inveniuntur haec in foliis maris sugentia,
fungorum verius generis quam piscium. eadem et

100 tenesmum dissolvunt reniumque vitia. nascitur et in
mari apsinthium, quod aliqui seriphum vocant, circa
Taposirum maxime Aegypti, exilius terrestri. alvum
solvit et noxiis animalibus intestina liberat — solvunt

101 et saepiae — ; in cibo datur cum oleo et sale et farina
coctum. menae salsae cum felle taurino inlitae
umbilico alvum solvunt. piscium ius in patina coc-
torum cum lactucis tenesmum discutit. cancri fluvia-
tiles triti et ex aqua poti alvum sistunt, urinam cient
in vino albo. ademptis bracchiis calculos pellunt
tribus obolis cum murra et iride singulis earum drach-
mis, ileos et inflationes castorea cum dauci semine et
petroselino quantum ternis digitis sumatur, ex mulsi
calidi cyathis im, tormina vero cum aneto ex vino
mixto. erythini in cibo sumpti sistunt alvum.
dysentericis medentur ranae cum scilla decoctae ita,
ut pastilli fiant, vel cor earum cum melle tritum, ut
tradit Niceratus, morbo regio salsamentum cum
pipere ita, ut reliqua carne abstineatur.

102 XXXII. Lieni medetur solea piscis inpositus, item
torpedo, item rhombus ; vivus dein remittitur in mare.
scorpio marinus necatus in vino vesicae vitia et cal-

524

BOOK XXXII. xxxi. 99-xxxii. 102

hydromel, the dose being two drachmae. Those who
wish to use a more drastic laxative add a drachma of
dried root of cultivated cucumber and two drachmae
of saltpetre. Tethea cures griping and flatulence.
It is found as a parasite on sea plants, more a kind
of fungus rather than a fish. They also cure tenesmus
and affections of the kidneys. There also grows in
the sea apsinthium, which some call seriphum, found
chiefly around Taposiris in Egypt, and is more
slender than the land variety. It relaxes the bowels
and brings away harmful creatures from the intes-
tines. The cuttle-fish too is laxative. The apsin-
thium is given in food, being boiled with oil, salt, and
flour. Salted menae applied to the navel with bull's
gall relax the bowels. The liquor of fish boiled in a
pan Avith lettuce cures tenesmus. River crabs beaten
up and taken in water are constipating but diuretic
in a white wine. If their legs are taken off they
bring away stone, the dose being three oboli with a
drachma each of myrrh and iris ; iliac colic and
flatulence are cured by beaver oil with daucus seed
and of rock parsley as much as can be picked up in
three fingers, taken in four cyathi of warm honey-
wine; while for griping it should be taken with a
mixture of dill and wine. The erythinus taken in
food is constipating. Dysentery can be treated by
frogs boiled with squills to make lozenges, or by their
heart beaten up with honey, as Niceratus prescribes,
jaundice by salted fish with pepper, but the patient
must abstain from all other meat.

XXXII. Splenic trouble is treated by the appli-
cation of the fish sole, of the torpedo, or of the
turbot, but the fish is then put back living into the
sea. Bladder troubles and stone are cured by the

525

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

culos sanat, lapis, qui invenitur in scorpionis marini
cauda, pondere oboli potus, enhydridis iecur, blen-
diorum cinis cum ruta. inveniuntur et in bacchi piscis
capite ceu lapilli ; hi poti ex aqua calculosis praeclare
medentur. aiunt et urticam marinam in vino potam
prodesse, item pulmonem marinum decoctum in aqua.

103 ova saepiae urinam movent reniumque pituitas extra-
hunt. rupta, convolsa cancri fluviatiles triti in asinino
maxime lacte sanant, echini vero cum spinis suis con-
tusi et e vino poti calculos — modus singulis hemina ;
bibitur, donec prosit — et alias in cibis ad hoc profi-
ciunt. purgatur vesica et pectinum cibo. ex iis
mares alii hovaKas vocant, alii auAous", feminas 6Vir\;as\
urinam mares movent. dulciores feminae sunt et
unicolores. [saepiae quoque ova urinam movent et
renes purgant].1

104 XXXIII. Enterocelicis lepus marinus inlinitur
tritus cum melle. iecur aquaticae colubrae, item
hydri tritum potumque calculosis prodest. ischia-
dicos liberant salsamenta e siluro infusa clysterio,
evacuata prius alvo. sedis attritus cinis e capite mugi-
lum et mullorum ; comburuntur autem in fictili vase,

105 inlini cum melle debent. item capitis menarum cinis
et ad rhagadas et ad condylomata utilis, sicut pelamy-

1 Uncos addunt Hard., Mayhoff.
526

BOOK XXXII. xxxn. 102-XXXI11. 105

sea scorpion killed in wine, by the stone which is found
in the tail of the sea-scorpion, the dose being an
obolus, taken in drink, by the liver of the enhydris,
and by the ash of the blenny with rue. There are
found too in the head of the fish bacchus as it were
pebbles ; these taken in water are excellent treat-
ment for stone. It is said that the sea-nettle taken
in wine is also good for it, and likewise the pulmo
marinus boiled down in water. The eggs of the
cuttle-fish are diuretic and bring away phlegms from
the kidneys. Ruptures and sprains are healed by
river-crabs beaten up in milk, by preference asses',
stone however by sea-urchins, spines and all, crushed
in wine and taken in doses of a hemina to each urchin,
this amount being drunk until benefit is apparent ;
urchins are also beneficial generally for stone when
taken as food. The bladder is cleansed by a diet of
scallops. The male scallops are called by some
o6vclk€s (reeds), by others avXot (pipes) ; the female
they call ovvx^s (nails). The males are diuretic ; the
females are sweeter and of a uniform colour. [The
eggs of the cuttle-fish also are diuretic and cleanse
the kidneys].

XXXIII. For intestinal hernia is applied sea-hare
beaten up with honey. The liver of the water-
coluber, likewise that of the water-snake, beaten up
and taken in drink, is good for stone. Sciatica is
cured by the brine of pickled silurus, injected as an
enema, after previous thorough cleansing of the
bowels ; chafing of the seat by the head of grey or
red mullet reduced to ash. The fish are burnt in an
earthen vessel and should be applied with honey.
The heads too of menae, reduced to ash, are useful
for chaps and condylomata, just as the heads of salted

527

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

dum salsarum capitum cinis vel cybiorum cum melle.
torpedo adposita procidentis interanei morbum ibi
coercet. cancrorum fluviatilium cinis ex oleo et cera
rimas in eadem parte emendat, idem et marini cancri
pollent.

106 XXXIV. Panos salsamenta coracini x discutiunt,
sciaenae interanea et squamae combustae, scorpio in
vino decoctus ita, ut foveantur ex illo. at echinorum
testae contusae et ex aqua inlitae incipientibus panis
resistunt, muricum vel purpurarum cinis utroque
modo, sive discutere opus sit incipientes sive concoctos
emittere. quidam its componunt medicamentum :
cerae et turis drachmas xx, spumae argenti xxxx,

107 cineris muricum x, olei veteris heminam. prosunt
per se salsamenta cocta, cancri fluviatiles triti ; 2 ver-
endorum pusulas cinis e capite menarum, item carnes
decoctae et inpositae, similiter percae salsae e capite
cinis melle addito, pelamydum capitis cinis aut

108 squatinae cutis combustae. haec est qua diximus
lignum poliri, quoniam et a mari fabriles usus exeunt.
prosunt et zmarides inlitae, item muricum vel pur-
purarum testae cinis cum melle, efficacius crematarum
cum carnibus suis. carbunculos verendorum priva-
tim salsamenta cocta cum melle restingunt. testem,
si descenderit, coclearum spuma inlini volunt.

1 coracini Hermolaus Barbarus : coraeina (fortasse adiectivum)
multi codd. : coracinosa B : coracinoru Mayhoff.

2 Hic vult addere ad vel contra Mayhoff.

° To govern pusulas Mayhoff adds ad. It is casy however
to understand e.g. emendat.

528

BOOK XXXII. xxxiii. 105-xxxiv. 108

pelamids, or sliced tunny, reduced to ash and applied
with honey. An application of the torpedo to the
intestinal region reduces a morbid procidence there.
The ash of river-crabs in oil and wax heals cracks in
that part; sea-crabs too have the same healing
property.

XXXIV. The pickle of the coracinus disperses
superficial abscesses, as do the burnt intestines and
scales of the sciaena, or the sea-scorpion boiled do\vn
in wine for fomentation with that decoction. But the
shells of sea-urchins crushed and applied with water
are a remedy for these abscesses when incipient ; the
murex or purple-fish reduced to ash is beneficial for
either purpose, whether it is necessary to disperse
incipient abscesses or to mature them and make them
discharge. Some make up the following prescrip-
tion : wax and frankincense twenty drachmae,
litharge forty drachmae, ash of the murex ten
drachmae, old oil one hemina. By themselves are
beneficial boiled salted-fish, and pounded river-crabs.
For a pustules on the pudenda, ash of the head of
menae, likewise their fiesh boiled down and applied,
similarly the ash of the head of salted perch, with
honey added, ash of pelamids' heads, or the skin of
burnt squatina. This skin is the one used, as I have
said,b to polish wood, for from the sea too come useful
things for our craftsmen. Zmarides also are beneficial
when applied, likewise with honey the shells of the
murex or purple-fish reduced to ash, more effectively
if burnt with their flesh. Boiled salted fish are
specific for reducing carbuncles on the pudenda. It
is recommended, if a testicle hangs down, that the
froth of snails be applied.

6 Sec IX. § 40.

529

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

109 XXXV. Urinae incontinentiam hippocampi tosti et
in cibo saepius sumpti emendant, ophidion pisciculus
congro similis cum lili radice, pisciculi minuti ex
ventre eius, qui devoraverit, exempti cremati ita, ut
cinus eorum bibatur ex aqua. iubent et cocleas
Africanas cum sua carne comburi cineremque ex
vino Signino dari.

110 XXXVI. Podagris articulariisque morbis utile est
oleum, in quo decocta sint ranarum intestina, et
rubetae cinis cum adipe vetere. quidam et hordei
cinerem adiciunt trium rerum aequo pondere.
iubent et lepore marino recenti podagram fricari,
fibrinis quoque pellibus calceari, maxime Pontici fibri,
item vituli marini, cuius et adips prodest isdem, nec
non et bryon, de quo diximus, lactucae simile, rugo-

111 sioribus foliis, sine caule. natura ei styptica, inposi-
tumque lenit impetus podagrae. item alga, de qua
et ipsa dictum est. observatur in ea, ne arida inpo-
natur. perniones emendat pulmo marinus, cancri
marini cinis ex oleo, item fluviatiles triti ustique,
cinere * et ex oleo subacto,2 siluri adips. in articulis
morborum impetus sedant ranae subinde recentes
inpositae ; quidam dissectas iubent inponi. corpus
auget ius mitulorum et concharum.

112 XXXVII. Comitiales, ut diximus, coagulum vituli
marini bibunt cum lacte equino asinaeve aut cum

1 cinerc codd.: in cinerem coni. Sillig.

2 subacto Mayhoff: subacti codd.

a Green laver. See Index of Plants in Vol. VII.

6 See XXVII. §56.

c See § 66 of this book. d See VIII. §111.

53°

BOOK XXXII. xxxv. 109— xxxvii. 112

XXXV. Incontinence of urine is remedied by the
sea-horse, roasted and taken often as food, by the
ophidion, a little fish like the conger, with lily-root
added, and by the tiny fish in the belly of the fish that
has swallowed them, taken out and burnt for their
ash to be taken in water. They also recommend
African snails to be burnt with their flesh, and the
ash to be given in Signian wine.

XXXVI. For gouty pains and for diseases of the
joints oil is useful in which the intestines of frogs have
been boiled down, and also the ash of bramble-toads
mixed with stale grease. There are some who add
to these also barley ash, taking equal weights of three
ingredients. They recommend too a gouty foot to
be rubbed with a fresh sea-hare, and the patient also
to be shod with beaver skin, by preference that of the
Pontic beaver, or else with seal skin, seal fat also
being good for gout. Good also is bryon,a about
which I have spoken,& a plant like the lettuce, but
with more wrinkled leaves and without a stem. Its
nature is styptie, and applied to the painful part it
soothes the paroxysms of gout. Sea-weed too is
good, about which by itself also I have spoken.c Care
is taken with sea-weed, not to apply it dry. An
application of pulmo marinus is a cure for chilblains,
and so is the ash of a sea-crab in oil, river-crabs too
pounded and burnt, the ash also being kneaded with
oil, and the fat of the silurus. In diseases of the
joints paroxysms are soothed by applying fresh frogs
every now and then ; some recommend them to be
cut up before being applied. Flesh is put on by the
liquid of mussels and of shell-fish generally.

XXXVII. Epilepsy, as I have said,d is treated by
doses of seals' rennet with mares' or asses' milk, or

531

PLIXY: XATURAL HISTORY

Punici suco, quidam ex aceto mulso. nec non aliqui
per se pilulas devorant. castoreum in aceti mulsi
cyathis tribus ieiunis datur, iis vero, qui saepius corri-
piantur, clystere infusum mirifice prodest. castorei
drachmae duae esse debebunt, mellis et olei sextarius
et aquae tantundem. ad praesens vero correptis
olfactu subvenit cum aceto. datur et mustelae
marinae iocur, item muris, vel testudinum sanguis.

113 XXXVIII. Febrium circuitus tollit iocur delphini
gustatum ante accessiones. hippocampi necantur in
rosaceo, ut perunguantur aegri frigidis febribus, et
ipsi adalligantur aegris. item ex asello pisce lapilli,
qui plena luna inveniuntur in capite, alligantur in
linteolo. phagri fluviatilis longissimus dens capillo
adalligatus ita, ut quinque diebus eum, qui adalli-
gaverit, non cernat aeger, ranae in trivio decoctae
oleo abiectis carnibus perunctos liberant quartanis.

114 sunt qui strangulatas in oleo ipsas clam adalligent
oleoque eo perunguant. cor earum adalligatum fri-
gora febrium minuit et oleum, in quo intestina de-
cocta sint. maxime autem quartanis liberant ablatis
unguibus ranae atque 2 adalligatae et rubeta, si
iocur eius vel cor adalligetur in panno leucophaeo.
cancri fluviatiles triti in oleo et aqua perunctis ante

1 atque codd. : aequc Maijhoff.
532

BOOK XXXII. xxxvn. 112 xxxviii. 114

with pomegranatc juice ; some prescribe it in oxymel.

Some too swallow the rennet by itself, made up into
pills. Beaver oil in three cyathi of oxymel is given
on an empty stomach ; those however frequently
attacked are beneflted wonderfully by a clyster ; of
the beaver oil there should be two drachmae, of
honey and oil a sextarius, and the same quantity of
water. If indeed persons have a momentary seizure
it is beneficial to give the patients beaver oil and
vinegar to smell. There is also given the liver of the
sea-weasel, or of the sea-mouse, or the blood of tor-
toises.

XXXVIII. Recurrent fevers are cured by a
dolphin's liver, taken before the paroxysms. Sea-
horses are killed in rose-oil, to make ointment for
those sick of chill fevers, and sea-horses themselves
are worn as an amulet by the patients. The little
stones also that at a full moon are found in the head
of the fish asellus, are tied on the patient in a linen
cloth. Quartans are cured by the longest tooth of
the river fish phagrus, tied with a hair on the patient
as an amulet, but the patient must not discern the
person who attached it for five days ; also by rubbing
with the grease of frogs boiled in oil at a place where
three roads meet, the flesh being first thrown away.
Some drown frogs in oil, attach secretly as an amulet,
and rub the patient thoroughly with the oil. The
heart of frogs attached as an amulet, and the oil in
wliich their entrails have been boiled, relieve the
chills of fevers. The best cure for quartans, however,
is a frog, worn as an amulet with its claws taken off,
or a bramble-toad, if its liver or heart is worn as an
amulet in a piece of ash-coloured cloth. River-
crabs, pounded in oil and water and thoroughly

533

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

accessiones in febribus prosunt : aliqui et piper

115 addunt. alii deeoctos ad quartas in vino e balineo
egressis bibere suadent in quartanis, aliqui sinistrum
oculum devorare. Magi oculis eorum ante solis
ortum adalligatis aegro ita, ut caecos dimittant in

116 aquam, tertianas abigi promittunt. eosdem oculos
cum carnibus lusciniae in pelle cervina inligatos
praestare vigiliam somno fugato tradunt. in lethar-
gum vergentibus coagulo ballaenae aut vituli marini
ad olfactum utuntur. alii sanguinem testudinis
lethargicis inlinunt. tertianis mederi dicitur et
spondylus percae adalligatus, quartanis cocleae
fluviatiles in cibo recentes ; quidam ob id adservant
sale, ut dent tritas in potu.

117 XXXIX. Strombi in aceto putrefacti lethargicos
excitant odore. prosunt et cardiacis. cachectis,
quorum corpus macie conficitur, tethea utilias unt
cum ruta ac melle. hydropicis medetur adips
delphini liquatus et cum vino potus. gravitati
saporis occurritur tactis naribus unguento aut odori-
bus vel quoquo modo opturatis. strombi quoque
carnes tritae et in mulsi tribus heminis pari modo
aquae aut, si febres sint. ex aqua mulsa datae pro-

118 ficiunt, item sucus cancrorum fluviatilium cum melle,
rana quoque aquatica in vino vetere et farre decocta
ac pro cibo sumpta ita, ut bibatur ex eodem vase, vel

a Or: turtle.
534

BOOK XXXII. xxxviii. 114-xxxix. 118

rubbed over the patient before the paroxysms, are
beneficial in fevers ; some add pepper also. Others
prescribe them for quartans boiled down to a quarter
in wine, to be taken after leaving the bath ; some,
however, the left eye to be swallowed. The Magi
assure us that tertian fevers are driven away by crabs'
eyes, attached as an amulet before sunrise to the
patient, but the blinded crabs must be set free into
water. The Magi also teach that crabs' eyes, tied
on with the flesh of a nightingale in deer skin, drive
away sleep and cause watchfulness. For those
sinking into lethargus they prescribe that the patient
smell the rennet of the whale or that of the seal.
Others use as embrocation for lethargus the blood of
a tortoise.0 It is also said that tertians are treated
successfully by the vertebra of a perch worn as an
amulet ; quartans by fresh river snails taken as food.
Some preserve them in salt for this purpose, to
administer them, beaten up, in a draught.

XXXIX. Strombi rotted in vinegar rouse by the
smell the victims of lethargus. They are also good
for those with stomach complaints. Those in a
decline, with a body seriously wasting away, find
beneficial tethea with rue and honey. Dropsy is
treated with melted dolphin fat taken with wine.
The nauseating taste is neutralised by touching the
nostrils with unguent or scents, or plugging them in
any suitable way. The flesh of the strombus also,
pounded and given in three heminae of honey wine
and an equal measure of water, or should there be
fever, in hydromel, benefit the dropsical ; likewise
the juice of river crabs with honey ; water frogs too
are boiled down in old wine and emmer wheat, and
then taken as food but out of the same vessel as

535

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

testudo decisis pedibus, capite, cauda et intcstinis
exemptis, reliqua carne ita condita, ut citra fastidium
sumi possit. cancri fiuviatiles ex iure sumpti et
phthisicis prodesse traduntur.

119 XL. Adusta sanantur cancri marini vel fluviatilis
cinere ex oleo ; ichthyocolla, ranarum cinere ea, quae
fervcnti aqua combusta sint ; haec curatio etiam pilos
restituit.1 cancrorum fluviatilium cinere putant
utendum cum cera et adipe ursino. prodest et
fibrinarum pellium cinis. ignes sacros restingunt
ranarum viventium ventres inpositi, pedibus post-
erioribus pronas adalligari iubent, ut crebriore an-
helitu prosint. utuntur et silurorum salsamenti
capitum cinere ex aceto. pruritum scabiemque non
hominum modo, sed et quadripedum efficacissime
sedat iecur pastinacae decoctum in oleo.

120 XLI. Nervos vel praecisos purpurarum callum, quo
se operiunt, tusum glutinat. tetanicos coagulum
vituli adiuvat ex vino potum oboli pondere, item
ichthyocolla, tremulos castoreum, si ex oleo perun-
guantur. mullos in cibo inutiles 2 nervis invenio.

121 XLII. Sanguinem fieri piscium cibo putant, sisti
polypo tuso inlito, de quo et haec traduntur : muriam
ipsum ex sese emittere et ideo non debere addi in
coquendo, secari harundine, ferro enim infici vitium-
que trahere natura dissidente. ad sanguinem sisten-

1 II ic codd. cum habent: item Moyhoff. Fortasse cum ex aut
cancrorum aut cum cera ortum.

2 utiles coni. Warmington.

a Or: turtle.

b In a Book dealing with fish remedies vituli cannot mean
an ordinary " calf."

c I so translate because of ex.

53«

BOOK XXXII. xxxix. iiS-xlii. 121

cooked : a tortoise " witfa feet, head, tail, and entrails

taken <>ut. the remaining flesh being so seasoned that
it ean be taken without nausea. River crabs taken
in their juiee are also reported to be benefieial to
consumptives.

XL. Burns are healed by the ash in oil of a sea erab
or river erab: by fish glue, or by the ash of frogs, the
sealds caused by boiling water : this treatment also
restores the lost hair. They think that the ash of
river crabs should be used with wax and bear's
grease. Benefieial also is the ash of beaver pelts.
Krvsipelas disappears under the application of the
bellies of live frogs ; they recommend the frogs to be
tied on upside down by their hind legs. so that their
rapid breathing may be of benefit. They also use
the ash in vinegar of the heads of salted siluri.
Pruritus and itch-scab in quadrupeds as well as in man
are relieved with great efficacy by the liver of the
sting-rav boiled down in oil.

XLI. The hard operculum. with which the purple-
fish shuts its body from view, when beaten up, unites
cut sinews even when severed. Patients with tetanus
are relieved by an obolus by weight of seal's b ren-
net taken in wine : also by tish glue. The palsied ob-
tain benefit from beaver oil, if they are thoroughly
rubbed with it and olive oil.c I find that red mullet
as a food is injurious to the sinews.

XLII. They think that to eat fish causes bleeding,
but that haemorrhage is stopped by crushing and ap-
plying the polypus, about which are current the follow-
ing reports. It of itself gives out of itself brine. and
therefore none should be added in cooking : it should
be cut with a reed, for iron spoils it and leaves a taint.
as the natures of the two quarrel. To stop bleeding

537

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

duni et ranarum inlinunt cinerem vel sanguinem

122 arefactum. quidam ex ea rana, quam Graeci cala-
miten vocant, quoniam inter harundines fruticesque
vivat, minima omnium et viridissima, sanguinem
cineremve fieri * iubent, aliqui et nascentium ranarum
in aqua, quibus adhuc cauda est, in calice novo com-
bustarum cinerem, si per nares fluat, inferciendum.2

123 diversus hirudinum, quas sanguisugas vocant, ad
extrahendum sanguinem usus est. quippe eadem
ratio earum, quae cucurbitarum medicinalium, ad
corpora levanda sanguine, spiramenta laxanda iudi-
catur, sed vitium, quod admissae semel desiderium
faciunt circa eadem tempora anni semper eiusdem
medicinae. multi podagris quoque admittendas
censuere. decidunt satiatae et pondere ipso san-
guinis detractae aut sale adspersae ; aliquando tamen
relinquunt adfixa capita, quae causa volnera insana-
bilia facit et multos interemit, sicut Messalinum e
consularibus patriciis, cum ad genu 3 admisisset, in
veneni 4 virus remedio verso. maxime rufae ita

124 formidantur ; ergo sugentes 5 forficibus praecidunt,
ac velut siphonibus defluit sanguis, paulatimque
morientium capita se contrahunt, nec relinquuntur.
natura earum adversatur cimicibus, suffitu necat eos.
fibrinarum pellium cum pice liquida combustarum
cinis narium profluvia sistit suco porri mollitus.

125 XLIII. Extrahit corpori tela inhaerentia saepiarum

1 Inlini coni. Warmington.

- inferciendum Ianus: imperficiendum codd.

3 genu B2 E: genum B^RdT: gcnam coni. Mayhoff.

4 in veneni Ianus: invenit B: inveniunt muUi codd.

5 sugentes Sillig: (sugere?) ursas B1: oras VRdT : sugere
orsas Mayhoff ex mullis lectionibus et coniecturis.

538

The Greek /<dAa/zo? means a reed.

BOOK XXXII. xlii. 121-XLiii. 125

they also apply the ash of frogs or their dried blood.
Some recommend the blood or ash to come from the
frog called by the Greeks calamites,a because it lives
among reeds and shrubs, the smallest and greenest
of all frogs ; some that the ash of frogs at their birth
in water, while still tadpoles with a tail, and calcined
in a new earthen vessel, should be stufFed into the
nostrils of those with epistaxis. Opposite is the use
of leeches, called sanguisugae,b which are employed
to extract blood. For these are supposed to have
the same purpose as that of cupping-glasses, to relieve
the body of blood and to open the pores of the skin ;
but an objection is that once applied they create a
craving for the same treatment every year at about
the same time. Many have been of opinion that
leeches should be applied also for gout. When
gorged leeches fall off, detached by the mere weight
of blood or by a sprinkle of salt ; sometimes however
they leave their heads stuck fast in the flesh, thus
causing incurable wounds that have often proved
fatal. An instance is Messalinus, a patrician of con-
sular rank, who applied leeches to his knee,c and the
remedy turned to a virulent poison. It is especially
red leeches that are so dreaded ; so they cut them off
with scissors while they are sucking, and the blood
runs down as it were through tubes ; as they die their
heads little bv little contract, and are not left in the
bite. The nature of leeches is adverse to that of
bugs, which are killed if fumigated with leeches.
Beaver skins, burnt with liquid pitch and softened
with leek juice, arrest discharges from the nostrils.
XLIII. Weapons sticking in the flesh are drawn

b I.e. " blood-suckers."

c With MayhofFs suggestion, " cheek."

539

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

testae cinis, item purpurarum testae ex aqua, salsa-

mentorum carnes, cancri fluviatiles triti, siluri
fluviatilis, qui et alibi quam in Nilo nascitur,
carnes inpositae, recentis sive salsi. eiusdem cinis
extrahit, adips et cinis spinae eius vicem spodii
praebet.

126 XLIV. Ulcera, quae serpunt, et quae in iis ex-
crescunt capitis menarum cinis vel siluri coercet, car-
cinomata percarum capita salsarum, efficacius si
cinere earum misceantur x sal et cunila capitata
oleoque subigantur. cancri marini cinis usti cum
plumbo carcinomata compescit. ad hoc et fluviatilis
sufricit cum melle lineaque lanugine ; aliqui malunt
alumen melque miscere 2 cineri. phagedaenae siluro
inveterato et cum sandaraca trito, cacoethe et nomae
et putrescentia cybio vetere sanantur ; vermes innati

127 ranarum felle tolluntur. fistulae aperiuntur siccan-
turque salsamentis cum linteolo inmissis, intraque
alterum diem callum omnem auferunt et putre-
scentia ulcerum quaeque serpant emplastri modo
subacta et inlita. et allex purgat ulcera in linteolis
concerptis, item echinorum testae cinis. carbunculos
coracinorum salsamenta inlita discutiunt, item mul-
lorum salsamenti cinis — quidam capite tantum utun-
tur cum melle — vel coracinorum carnes. muricum
cinis cum oleo tumores tollit, cicatrices fel scorpionis
marini.

128 XLY. Yerrucas tollit glani iocur inlitum, capitis

1 misceantur coni. Mayhoff: misceatur codd.

2 miscere multi codd.: misceri B. Sillig, Mayhoff.

a See List of Diseases.

b See Index of Plants in Vol. VII.

r Allex (variously spelt) is fish pickle.

540

BOOK XXXII. xliii. 125-xLv. 128

out by the ash in water of the shell of the cuttle-fish,
also of the shell of the purple-fish, by the flesh of
salted fish, by river-crabs beaten up, by an applica-
tion of the flesh of the river silurus (which is found in
other rivers besides the Nile), whether fresh or pre-
served in salt. The ash of the same fish draws out
sharp bodies ; its fat and the ash of its back-bone
take the place of spodium.

XLIY. Creeping ulcers and the excrescences that
form in them are checked by ash of menae or of the
silurus, carcinomata ° by heads of salted perch, with
more effect if with their ash are mixed salt and
headed cunila,6 and the whole kneaded with oil. The
ash of a sea crab that has been burnt with lead checks
carcinomata. For this purpose river crab too sufhces
with honey and fine lint. Some prefer to mix alum
and honey with the ash. Phagedaenic ulcers are
healed by silurus kept till stale and beaten up with
sandarach ; malignant ulcers, corrosive ulcers, and
festering sores by old tunny sliced ; the maggots that
breed in them are removed by frogs' gall. Fistulas
are opened and dried up by salted fish inserted with
lint ; within two days such fish remove all callus,
festering sores, and creeping ulcers, if kneaded up as
for a plaster and applied. Allex c also applied in
strips of lint cleans sores ; likewise the shell of sea-
urchins, reduced to ash. Carbuncles are dispersed if
treated with salted coracinus, likewise with the ash
of salted red mullet — some use the head only with
honey — or with the flesh of coracinus. Ash of murex
with oil removes swellings, and the gall of the sea
scorpion scars.

XLV. Warts are removed by an application of the
liver of the glanus, of menae ash beaten up with

541

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

menarum cinis cum alio tritus — ad thymia crudis
utuntur — fel scorpionis marini rufi, zmarides tritae
inlitae, allex defervefacta. unguium scabritiam cinis
e capite menarum extenuat.

129 XLVI. Mulieribus lactis copiam facit glauciscus e
iure sumptus et zmarides cum tisana sumptae vel cum
feniculo decoctae. mammas ipsas muricum vel pur-
purae testarum cinis cum melle efficaciter sanat, item
cancri inliti fluviatiles vel marini. pilos in mamma
muricum carnes inpositae tollunt. squatinae inlitae
crescere mammas non patiuntur. delphini adipe
linamenta tincta l accensa excitant volva strangulata

130 oppressas, item strombi in aceto putrefacti. per-
carum vel menarum capitis cinis sale admixto et cunila
oleoque volvae medetur, suffitione quoque secundas
detrahit. item vituli marini adips instillatur igni
naribus intermortuarum volvae vitio, coagulo eiusdem
in vellere inposito. pulmo marinus alligatus purgat
egregie profluvia, echini viventes tusi et in vino dulci
poti sistunt et cancri fluviatiles triti in vino potique.

131 item siluri suffitu, praecipue Africi, faciliores partus
facere dicuntur, cancri ex aqua poti profluvia sistere,
ex hysopo purgare. et si partus strangulet,2 similiter
poti auxiliantur. eosdem recentes vel aridos bibunt

1 tincta add. Brakman, inlita Mayhoff, post C. F. W. Muller.

2 strangulet VR: stranguletur d (?).

° The Greek dvfxiov, a large wart.

6 Brakman's tincta is perhaps better than Mayhoffs inlita,
as illino in Pliny is regularly used of applying medicaments
to the human body.

c Or: " ailment of the womb."

542

BOOK XXXII. xlv. 128-xLvi. 131

garlic — for thyniion a warts they use the materials
raw — by the gall of the red sea scorpion, by zmarides
beaten up and applied, and by allex thoroughly
boiled. Rough nails are smoothed by the ash of
menae heads.

XLYI. Milk in women is made plentiful by
glauciscus taken with its liquor, by zmarides taken
with barley water or boiled down with fennel. The
breasts themselves are treated efficaciously by shells
of murex or purple fish reduced to ash and combined
with honey ; by crabs too, river or sea, applied
locally. The flesh of the murex if applied removes
hair growing on the breasts. Squatinae applied
prevent their swelling. Lint, smeared b with dolphin's
fat and then set alight, arouse women suffering from
hysterical suffocations ; likewise strombi rotted in
vinegar. The ash of the heads of perch or menae,
mixed with salt, cunila, and oil, is healing to the
uterus ; by fumigation also it brings away the after-
birth. The fat of the seal melted in the fire is in-
serted into the nostrils of women swooning from
hysterical suffocation,c or else seal's rennet used as a
pessary in a piece of fleece. The pulmo marinus, tied
on/* is an excellent promoter of menstruation, which
is checked by living sea urchins pounded up and taken
in a sweet wine or by river crabs beaten up and so
taken. Siluri also, especially the African, are said
to make easier the birth of children, crabs taken in
water to arrest menstruation, taken in hyssop to
promote it. If birth causes choking,e the same
medicament taken in drink is a help. Crabs, fresh

d Here apparently as an amulet, although that is usually
aduUigare.

c With the reading stranguletur : il if the child chokes."

543

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

ad partus continendos. Hippocrates et ad purga-
tiones mortuosque partus utitur illis, cum quinis,
lapathi radice rutaeque, et fuligine trita et in mulso

132 data potui. iidem in iure cocti cum lapatho et apio
menstruas purgationes expediunt lactisque uber-
tatem faciunt, iidem in febri, quae sit cum capitis
doloribus et oculorum palpitatione, mulieribus in vino
austero dati prodesse dicuntur. castoreum ex mulso
potum purgationibus prodest contraque volvam ol-

133 factum cum aceto et pice aut subditum pastillis. ad
secundas etiam uti eodem prodest cum panace in
quattuor cyathis vini et a frigore laborantibus ternis
obolis. sed si castoreum flbrumve supergrediatur
gravida, abortum facere dicitur et periclitari partu,
si superferatur. mirum est et quod de torpedine
invenio, si capiatur cum luna in libra sit, triduoque
adservetur sub diu, faciles partus facere postea,
quotiens inferatur. adiuvare et pastinacae radius
adalligatus umbilico existumatur, si viventi ablatus

134 sit, ipsa in mare dimissa. invenio apud quosdam
ostraceum vocari quod aliqui onychen vocent ; hoc
suffitum volvae poenis mire resistere; odorem esse
castorei, meliusque cum eo ustum proficere ; vetera
quoque ulcera et cacoethe eiusdem cinere sanari.
nam carbunculos et carcinomata in muliebri parte
praesentissimo remedio sanari tradunt cancro femina

a See WomerCs Diseases, Littre VIII, p. 220. In the Greek
it is five crabs, etc., to be taken thrice fasting.
6 A little shell.
c A nail or claw.

544

BOOK XXXII. xlvi. 131-134

or dried, are taken in drink to prevent miscarriage.
Hippocrates a uses them to promote menstruation
and to withdraw a dead foetus ; five crabs, root of
lapathum and of rue, with some soot, are beaten up,
and given to drink in honey wine. Crabs, boiled in
their liquor with lapathum and celery, hasten on the
monthly flow and produce a plentiful supply of milk ;
in fever accompanied by pains in the head and palpi-
tation of the eyes, are said to be good for women when
given in a dry wine. Beaver oil taken in honey wine
is good for menstruation, as also for troubles of the
uterus if given to smell with vinegar and pitch, or
made into tablets for a pessary. To bring away the
afterbirth it is also useful to use beaver oil with panaces
in four cyathi of wine, and three-obol doses for those
suffering from chill. If, however, a pregnant woman
steps over beaver oil or a beaver, it is said to cause a
miscarriage, and a dangerous confinement if it is
carried over her. What I nnd about the torpedo is
also wonderful : that, if it is caught when the moon is
in Libra and kept for three days in the open, it makes
parturition easy every time afterwards that it is
brought into the room. It is thought to be helpful
too if the sting of the sting-ray is worn as an amulet
on the navel, but it must be taken from a living fish,
which itself must be cast into the sea. I find in some
writers that there is a substance called ostraceum,b
called by some onyx c ; that this by fumigation
wonderfully counteracts severe pains of the uterus ;
that it has the smell of beaver oil, and is more effica-
cious if burnt with it ; that the ash also of the same
substance cures chronic or malignant ulcers. But
carbuncles and cancerous sores on a womans privates
have, they say, a sovereign remedy in a female crab

545

VOL. VIII. T

PLINY: XATURAL HISTORY

cum salis flore contuso post plenam lunam et ex aqua
inlito.

135 XLYII. Psilotrum est thynni sanguis, fel, iocur,
sive recentia sive servata, iocur etiam tritum mixto-
que cedrio plumbea pyxide adservatum. ita pueros
mangonicavit Salpe obstetrix. eadem vis pulmoni *
marino 2 leporis marini sanguini 3 et felli 4 vel si in
oleo lepus hic necetur. . . .5 cancri, scolopendrae
marinae cinis cum oleo, urtica marina trita ex aceto
scillite, torpedinis cerebrum cum alumine inlitum xvi

136 luna. ranae parvae, quam in oculorum curatione
descripsimus, sanies efficacissimum psilotrum est, si
recens inlinatur, et ipsa arefacta ac tusa, mox decocta
tribus heminis ad tertias vel in oleo decocta aereis
vasis. eadem mensura alii ex xv ranis conficiunt
psilotrum, sicut in oculis diximus. sanguisugae quo-
que tostae in vase fictili et ex aceto inlitae eundem
contra pilos habent effectum. [Hic suffitus urentium
eas necat cimices]. inuncto castoreo quoque cum
melle pro psilotro usi pluribus diebus reperiuntur.
in omni autem psilotro evellendi prius sunt pili.

137 XLVIII. Infantium gingivis dentitionibusque

1 pulmoni codd. : pulmonis vulg., Mayhoff.

2 marino VRcl: marini Bb. vulg. Mayhoff.

3 sanguini multi codd.: sanguine E, vulg., Mayhoff.

4 felli dT Hard. : felle Mayhoff cum multis codd.

5 Hic lacunam indicat Mayhoff.

a The best kind of salt.

b Maykoff suggests that the words item adhibetur or the like
have fallen out here. The ending -etur may have caused the
omission of one verb.

546

BOOK XXXII. xlvi. 134-xLvm. 137

crushed up with flower of salt B after a full moon and
applied in water.

XLVII. Superfluous hair is removed by blood, gall,
and liver of the tunny, whether fresh or preserved,
by the liver too when beaten up, mixed with cedar
oil, and stored in a leaden box. In this way slave
boys were prepared for market by Salpe the midwife.
The same property is found in the pulmo marinus, in
the blood and gall of the sea hare, or this hare itself
killed in oil.6 There is also used the ash of the crab
or of the sea scolopendra with oil, the sea anemone
beaten up in squill vinegar, or the brain of the tor-
pedo applied with alum on the sixteenth day of the
moon. The blood-like matter (sanies) given out by
the small frog, that we have spoken of c in the treat-
ment of the eyes, is a most efficacious depilatory if
applied fresh ; and so is the frog itself, dried and
pounded up, and then boiled down to one third in
three heminae, or boiled down in oil in brazen vessels.
Others make a depilatory out of fifteen frogs treated
with the same proportions of liquid, as we mentioned
when treating of the eyes.d Leeches also, roasted in
an earthen vessel and applied with vinegar, have the
same effect in extracting hair. The fumes that come
from those burning the leeches kill bugs.e There are
also found those who have used for several days as a
depilatory rubbing with beaver oil and honey. Be-
fore using however any depilatory the hairs must first
be pulled out.

XLVIII. The gums and the teething of infants are

c See § 74 of this Book.

d See § 75 of this Book; eadem mensura could be taken with
the preceding sentence.

* This sentence is bracketed by Mayhoff.

547

PLINY: NATIRAL HISTORY

plurimum confert delphini cum melle dentium cinis et
si ipso dente gingivae tangantur. adalligatus idem
pavores repentinos tollit. idem effectus et caniculae
dentis. ulcera vero, quae in auribus aut ulla parte
corporis fiant, cancrorum fluviatilium sucus cum

138 farina hordeacea sanat. et ad reliquos morbos triti in
oleo perunctis prosunt. siriasim infantium spongea
frigida cerebro umefacto rana inversa adalligata
efficacissime sanat. aridam inveniri adfirmant.

XLIX. Mullus in vino necatus vel piscis rubellio
vel anguillae duae, item uva marina in vino putrefacta
iis, qui inde biberint, taedium vini adfert.

139 L. Venerem inhibet echeneis, hippopotamii frontis
e sinistra parte pellis in agnina adalligata, fel torpe-
dinis vivae genitalibus inlitum. concitant coclearum
fluviatilium carnes sale adservatae et in potu ex vino
datae, erythini in cibo sumpti, iocur ranae diopetis
vel calamitis in pellicula gruis adalligatum vel dens
crocodili maxillaris adnexus bracchio vel hippo-
campus vel nervi rubetae dextro lacerto adalligati.
amorem finit in pecoris recenti corio rubeta adalligata.

140 LI. Equorum scabiem ranae decoctae in aqua e\-

a See List of Diseases.
548

BOOE XXXII. xlviii. 137-Li. 140

helped very mueh by a dolphirTs teeth reduced to ash
and added to honey, and also if the gums are touched
with a tooth itself. As an amulet a dolphin's tooth
removes a child's sudden terrors. The same also is
the effect of a tooth of the canicula. The sores how-
ever that form in the ears or on any part of the body
are cured by the juice of river crabs with barley meal.
The other diseases too are relieved if the patients are
thoroughly rubbed with river crabs pounded in oil.
For siriasis a in babies a very efficaeious cure is a frog
tied as an amulet baek to front on the infant's skull b
moistened with a cold sponge. The sponge is said
to be found dry afterwards.

XLIX. Red mullet killed in wine, or the fish
rubellio, or two eels, also a sea grape rotted in wine,
brings a distaste for wine to those who have drunk
of the liquor.

L. Antaphrodisiac are the echeneis, hide from the
left side of the forehead of a hippopotamus attached as
an amulet in lamb skin, or the gall of the torpedo,
while it is still alive, applied to the genitals. Aphro-
disiac is the flesh of river snails preserved in salt and
given to drink in wine, erythini taken as food, the liver
of the frog diopetes or calamites, attached as an amu-
let in a little piece of crane's skin, or the maxillary
tooth of a crocodile tied to the forearm, or the hippo-
campus, or the sinews of a bramble toad worn as an
amulet on the right upper arm. Love is killed by a
bramble toad worn as an amulet in a fresh piece of
sheep's skin.

LI. Itch scab in horses is relieved by frogs boiled

6 The Bohn translation suggests that crebro, " from time to
time " is the correct reading. It is not mentioned by
Mayhoff.

549

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

tenuant, donec inlini possint. aiunt * ita curatos l

non repeti postea. Salpe negat eanes latrare, quibns
in offa rana viva data sit.

LII. Inter aquatilia diei debet et calamochnus,
Latine adarca appellata. nascitur circa harundines
tenues e spuma aquae dulcis ac marinae, ubi se
miscent. vim habet causticam, ideo acopis utilis et
contra perfrictionum vitia. tollit et mulierum lenti-

141 gines in facie. et calami simul dici debent : phrag-
mitis radix recens tusa luxatis medetur et spinae
doloribus ex aceto inlita, Cyprii vero, qui et donax
vocatur, cortex alopeciis medetur ustus et ulceribus
veteratis,3 folia extrahendis quae infixa sint corpori
et igni sacro. paniculae flos aures si intravit,
exsurdat. sepiae atramento tanta vis est, ut in lu-
cernam 4 addito Aethiopas videri ablato priore lumine
Anaxilaus tradat. rubeta excocta aqua potui data
suum morbis medetur vel cuiuscumque ranae cinis.
pulmone marino si confricetur lignum, ardere videtur
adeo, ut baculum ita praeluceat.

142 LIII. Peractis aquatilium dotibus non alienum
videtur indicare per tot maria, tam vasta et tot milibus
passuum terrae infusa extraque circumdata mensura,
paene ipsius mundi quae intellegatur, animalia cen-

1 aiunt et coni. Mayhoff.

2 curatos sic coni. Mayhoff.

3 inveteratis coni. Mayhoff: veteratis; folia <utilia> coni.
Warmington.

1 luccrnam Mayhoff: lucerna codd.

a Probably e.g. at strangers. The Bohn translators have :
" lose the power of barking." Perhaps when they see the
frog.

550

BOOK XXXII. li. 140-Lin. 142

down in water until they can be used as ointment.
It is said that a horse so treated is never attacked
again afterwards. Salpe says that dogs do not bark a
if a live frog has been put into their mess.

LII. Among water creatures ought also to be
mentioned calamochnus, the Latin name of which is
adarca. It collects around thin reeds from the
foam forming where fresh and sea water mingle. It
has a caustic property, and is therefore useful for
tonic pills and to cure cold shiverings. It also
removes freckles on the face of women. At the
same time reeds should be spoken of. The root of
phragmites, pounded fresh, cures dislocations, and
applied with vinegar pains in the spine ; the Cyprian
reed indeed, also called donax, has a bark which when
calcined cures mange and chronic ulcers, and its
leaves extract things embedded in the flesh, and help
erysipelas. The flower of the reed panicula causes
complete deafness if it has entered the ears. The
ink of the cuttle fish has so great power that
Anaxilaus reports that poured into a lamp the
former light utterly vanishes, and people appear as
black as Ethiopians. A bramble toad thoroughly
boiled in water and given to drink cures pigs' diseases,
as does the ash of any frog or toad. If wood is
thoroughly rubbed with pulmo marinus it seems to
be on fire, so much so that a walking-stick, so treated,
throws a light forward.

LIII. Xow that I have completed my account of
the natural qualities of aquatic plants and animals, it
seems to me not foreign to my purpose to point out
that, throughout all the seas which are so numerous
and spacious and come flooding into the landmass
over so many miles and surround it outside to

551

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

tum quadraginta quattuor omnino generum esse
eaque nominatim eomplecti, quod in terrestribus

143 volueribusque fieri non quit. neque enim omnes
Indiae Aethiopiaeque aut Scythiae desertorumve
novimus feras aut volucres, cum hominum ipsorum
multo plurimae sint differentiae, quas invenire potui-
mus. accedat his Taprobane insulaeque aliae atque
aliae * oceani fabulose narratae. profecto conveniet
non posse omnia genera in contemplationem univer-
sam vocari. at, Hercules, in tanto mari oceanoque
quae nascuntur certa sunt, notioraque, quod miremur,
quae profundo natura mersit.

144 Ut a beluis ordiamur, arbores, physeteres, ballae-
nae, pistrices, Tritones, Nereides, elephanti, homines
qui marini vocantur, rotae, orcae, arietes, musculi et
alii piscium forma [arietes],2 delphini celebresque
Homero vituli, luxuriae vero testudines et medicis
fibri — quorum generis lutras nusquam mari accepi-

145 mus mergi, tantum marina dicentes— iam caniculae,
drinones, cornutae, gladii, serrae, communesque
terrae, mari, amni hippopotami, crocodili, et amni
tantum ac mari thynni, thynnides, siluri, coracini,
percae.

Peculiares autem maris acipenser, aurata, asellus,

1 aliae atque Mayhoff: aliaeq B: omm. rell.

2 arietes seclud. War??iing(on ; quadripedes Birt : terrestres
coni. Mayhoff.

a Od., IV, 436.

6 In fact otters do somctimes enter the sea at estuaries,
•\vhile beavers do not.

c In sections 145-153 there are many variants in thc
names of fish. We note a few only. See Index of Fishes.

552

BOOK XXXII. liii. 142-145

an extent which might be thought of as almost
equal to that of the world itself — there are one
hundred and forty-four species in all ; and that they
can be included each under its own name, a thing
which, in the case of creatures of the land and those
which fly, cannot be done. For in fact we do not
know all the wild animals and flying creatures of
India and Ethiopia and Syria ; while even of mankind
itself the varieties which we have been able to dis-
cover are the greatest in number by far. Add to this
Ceylon and various other islands of the ocean about
which fabulous tales are told. Surely it will be
agreed that not all the species can be brought under
one general view for our consideration. On the
other hand, upon my solemn word, in the sea, vast
though it is, and in the ocean, the number of animals
produced is known ; and — we may well wonder at
this — we are better acquainted with the things which
nature has sunk down in the deep.

To begin with large beasts, there are " sea-trees,"
blower-whales, other whales, saw-fish, Tritons,
Nereids, walruses (?) so-called " men of the sea,"
" wheels," grampuses, " sea-rams," whalebone whales,
and others having the shape of fishes, dolphins, and
seals well known to Homer,° tortoises on the other
hand well known to luxury, beavers to medical
people (of the class of beavers we have never found
record, speaking as we are of marine animals, that
otters anywhere frequent the sea b) ; also sharks,
" drinones," horned rays (?), sword-nsh, saw-fish ;
hippopotamuses and crocodiles common to land, sea,
and river ; and, common to river and sea only, tun-
nies, other tunnies, " siluri," " coracini," and perches.

Belonging c to the sea only are sturgeon, gilt-head.

553

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

acharne, aphye, alopex, anguilla, araneus, boca, batia,
bacchus, batrachus, belonae, quos aculeatos vocamus-
balanus, corvus, citharus, rhomborum generis pessi,

146 mus. chalcis, cobio, callarias, asellorum generis, minor
esset, colias * sive Parianus sive Sexitanus a patria
Baetica, lacertorum minimi, f ab iis moncreses t 2
cybium — ita vocatur concisa pelamys, quae post xl
dies a Ponto in Maeotim revertitur — cordyla — et
haec pelamys pusilla ; cum in Pontum a Maeotide
exit, hoc nomen habet — cantharus, callionymus sive
uranoscopos, cinaedi, soli piscium lutei, cnide, quam

147 nos urticam vocamus, cancrorum genera, chemae
striatae, chemae leves, chemae peloridum generis,
varietate distantes et rotunditate, chemae glycymar-
ides, quae sunt maiores quam pelorides, coluthia sive
coryphia, concharum genera, inter quae et margariti-
ferae, cochloe,3 quorum generis pentadactyli, item
helices (ab aliis 4 actinophoroe dicuntur), quibus
radii; . . . cantant — extra haec sunt rotundae in

148 oleario usu cocleae — cucumis, cynops, cammarus,
cynosdexia, draco — quidam aliud volunt esse dracun-
culum ; est autem gerriculae amplae similis, aculeos

1 colias Hermolaus Barbarus; coliae Birt: collia B: colla
multi codd.

2 moncreses B: nostrates Mayhoff: varia rell. codd.

3 conchoe coni. Mayhoff.

4 helices ab aliis Ianus: h. ab his B: halicembalis vel sim.
rell.

a Not of the island Paros, but of the city Parium on the
Propontis.

6 Of the town Sex in Spain.

c The Latin text is here corrupt.

d This is puzzling. What are radii in the case of shell-
bearing molluscs? " Thc spokes on whose shells are used for

554

BOOK XXXII. liii. 145-148

" asellus," " acharne," small fry, thresher-shark, eel,
weever-fish, bogue, skate, grey mullet, angler-fish,
garfish ? — fish which we call thorny, sea-acorn,
" sea-crow," " cithari " the worst esteemed of the
turbot kind, shad (?), goby, " callarias " of the

aselli " kind were it not smaller, Spanish mackerel
also known as the Parian ° and as Sexitan b from its
native land Baetica, the smallest of the mackerels,
. . .,c " cybium " (this is the name given, when it has
been sliced, to the young tunny which returns from
the Black Sea into Lake Maeotis after forty days),
" cordyla " (this too is a very small young tunny ; it
has this name when it goes out from Lake Maeotis
into the Black Sea), black bream, the " callionymus "
or " uranoscopus," " cinaedi "-wrasse — the only
fishes which are yellow, sea-anemone, which we call
nettle, species of crab, furrowed clams, smooth clams,
clams of the kind " peloris," diifering in variety of
roundness of their shells, " glycymarides "-clams,
which are larger than " pelorides," " coluthia " or

coryphia," species of bivalves amongst which are
also the pearl-bearers, " cochloe " (to the class of
these belong the " five-fingered," also " helices "
called by others " actinophorae "), whose rays give a
singing sound d (outside these e there are round shells
used in dealing with oil), sea-cucumber, " cynops,"
shrimps/ " dog's right-hand," weever-fish; (certain
people want the " little weever " to be regarded as a
different animal : in fact it is like a large " gerricula,"

musical purposes "— Bostock and Riley. Perhaps the gastro-
pod mollusc " pelican's foot" is rneant.

e haec, neuter plural, is another problem. Mayhoff may
be right in suggesting a lacuna after radii.

f Or prawns.

555

PLINY: NATURAL HISTORY

in branchiis habet. ad caudam spectantes ; sic ut
scorpio laedit, dum manu tollitur — erythinus, echen-
ais, eehinus, elephanti locustarum generis nigri, pedi-
hus quaternis bisulcis — praeterea bracchia iis x n
binis articulis singulisque forcipibus denticulatis —
fabri sive zaei,2 glauciscus, glanis, gonger, girres,

149 galeos, garos, hippos, hippuros, hirundo, halipleumon,
hippocampos, hepar, ictinus, iulis, lacertorum genera,
Iolligo volitans, locustae, lucerna, lelepris,3 lamirus,4
lepus, leones, quorum bracchia cancris similia sunt —
reliqua pars locustae — mullus, merula inter saxatiles
laudata, mugil, melanurus, mena, maeotes, murena,
mys, mitulus, myiscus, murex, oculata, ophidion,
ostreae, otia, orcynus — hic est pelamydum generis
maximus neque ipse redit in Maeotim, similis tritomi,

150 vetustate melior — orbis, orthagoriscus, phager, phycis
saxatilium quaedam, pelamys — earum generis
maxima apolectum vocatur, durius tritomo — porcus,
phthir, passer, pastinaca, polyporum genera, pec-
tines — maximi et in his nigerrimi aestate lauda-
tissimi, hi autem Mytilenis, Tyndaride, Salonis,
Altini, Chia in insula, Alexandriae in Aegypto — pec-
tunculi, purpurae, pegrides, pina, pinoteres, rhine,
quem squatum vocamus, rhombus, scarus, principalis

151 hodie, solea, sargus, squilla, sarda — ita vocatur

1 iis add. Mayhoff.

2 zaei Mayhojf: caes codd. (zais B).

3 lelepris Janvs coll. Hcsych.: varia codd.

4 lamirus] larinus Sillig coll. Hesych.

556

BOOK XXXII. liii. 148-151

and has on its gills prickles which look towards the
tail ; and when it is lifted in the hand, it inflicts a
woundlike a scorpion)," erythrinus, " sucking-fish, sea-
urchin, black " elephants " of the lobster kind, having
four forked legs (they also have two arms, each with
double joints and a single pair of pincers having a
toothed edge), " fabri " or " zaei," " glauciscus,"
cat-fish, conger eel, " girres," dogfish, " garos,"
runner-crab (?) " horsetail," flying-fish, jellyfish, sea-
horse, " hepar," flying gurnard (?), rainbow-wrasse
(?), species of mackerel, fluttering squid, crawfishes,
" lantern-fish," " lelepris," " lamirus," sea-hare,
" lion "-lobsters, whose arms are like crabs' and the
rest is like the crawfish, red mullet, a wrasse highly
praised amongst rock-fish, grey mullet, " black-tail,"
" mena," " maeotes," murry, " mys "-mussel, mussel,
bearded mussel (?), purple-mollusc. " eyed " fish,
eel (?), species of bivalves, sea-ear, large tunny (this
is the largest of the pelamys kind and it never comes
back to Lake Maeotis ; it is like the " tritomum "
and is best in its old age), globe-fish, " orthagoriscus",
" phager," " phycis " one of the rock-fish," pelamys "-
tunny, of which kind the largest is called " choice
piece," tougher than the " tritomus," " pig "-fish,
sea-louse, plaice (?), sting-ray, species of octopus,
scallops (the very large ones, and, among these, those
which are very black in summer time, being the most
highly esteemed; moreover, these are found at
Mytilene, Tyndaris, Salonae, Altinum, the island of
Chios. and Alexandria in Egypt), small scallops.
purple-molluscs, " pegrides " (?), pinna, hermit crab
(or pinna-guard crab), angel-fish which we call
" squatus," turbot, parrot-wrasse, which is of first
rank to-day, sole, sargue, prawn (or shrimp), " sarda "

557

PLIXY: NATURAL HISTORY

pelamys longa ex oceano veniens — scomber, salpa,
sorus, scorpaena, scorpio, salax, sciaena, sciadeus,
scolopendra, smyrus, sepia, strombus, solen sive aulos
sive donax sive onyx sive dactylus, spondyli, smarides,
stellae, spongeae, turdus, inter saxatiles nobilis,
thynnis, thranis, quem alii xiphian vocant, thrissa,
torpedo, tethea, tritomum pelamydum generis magni,

152 ex quo terna cybia fiunt, veneria, uva, xiphias.

LIY. His adiciemus ab Ovidio posita animalia,
quae apud neminem alium reperiuntur, sed fortassis in
Ponto nascentia, ubi id volumen supremis suis tempori-
bus inchoavit : bovem, cercyrum in scopulis viventem,
orphum rubentemque erythinum, iulum, pictas mor-
myras aureique coloris chrysophryn, praeterea per-
cam, tragum et placentem cauda melanurum, epodas

153 lati generis. praeter haec insignia piscium tradit:
channen ex se ipsam concipere, glaucum aestate num-
quam apparere, pompilum, qui semper comitetur
navium cursus, chromin,1 qui nidificet in aquis. helo-
pem dicit esse nostris incognitum undis, ex quo
apparet falli eos, qui eundem acipenserem existi-
maverint. helopi palmam saporis inter pisces multi
dedere.

154 Sunt praeterea a nullo auctore nominati. sudis
Latine appellatur, Graece sphyraena, rostro similis

1 varia codd. Mayhoff sequimur.

a Hal 94, 102, 104, 110-113, 126.
6 Hal. 96, 101, 108, 117, 121.

558

BOOK XXXII. liii. 151-Liv. 154

(this is the name given to an elongated pelamys-
tunny which comes from the Ocean), mackerel, saupe,

sorus," two kinds of sculpin, two kinds of maigre,
scolopendra-worm, " smyrus," cuttle-fish, spiral
molluscs, razor-shells variously called " solen,"
" aulos ", " donax," " onyx," and " dactylus " ;
thorny oysters, picarels, starfishes, sponges, " tur-
dus "-wrasse, famous amongst rock-fish, tunny,
" thranis," which others call sword-fish, " thrissa,"
electric ray, sea-squirt, " tritomum " (" three-cut ")
belonging to a large kind of tunny, from each of
which three " cybia " can be cut, " veneria," cuttle-
egg (?), sword-fish. LIV. We will add to these some
animals, mentioned by Ovid,a which are found in no
other writer, but which are perhaps native to the
Black Sea, where he began that unfinished book in
the last davs of his life : horned ray, " cercyrus
which lives amongst rocks, " orphus," and red " ery-
thinus," " iulus," tinted sea-breams and gilt-head of
golden colour; and, besides these, perch, " tragus,"
" black-tail " with pretty tail, " epodes " of the flat
kind. Besides these remarkable kinds of fishes he
records : that the sea-perch conceives of herself, that
the " glaucus " never appears in summer ; and he
mentions the pilot-fish as always accompanying ships
on their course, and the " chromis " which makes its
nest in the waves. He says that the " helops " is
" unknown to our waters " ; b from which it is clear
that those who have believed that acipenser (sturgeon)
is the same are in error. Many people have given
the first prize for taste to the helops among all fish.

Moreover, there are some fish named by no author.
There is one barracuda called " sudis " in Latin,
" sphyraena " in Greek, in its muzzle resembling its

559

PLIXY: NATURAL HISTORY

nomini, magnitudine inter amplissimos ; rarus is et
non degenerat. appellantur et pernae concharum
generis, circa Pontias insulas frequentissimae. stant
velut suillum crus e longo in harena defixae hiantes-
que, qua x latitudo est, pedali non minus spatio cibum
venantur ; dentes circuitu marginum habent pecti-
natim spissatos ; intus spondyli grandis caro est. et
hyaenam piscem vidi in Aenaria insula captum. —
Exeunt praeter haec et purgamenta aliqua relatu
indigna et algis potius adnumeranda quam animalibus.

quae coni. Wurmington.

560

BOOK XXXII. liv. 154

name (" stake "); it is in size amongst the largest ;
it is uncommon, and does not degenerate by inter-
breeding. There are also shells (pinnas) of a kind for
which the name " perna " is given ; they are abund-
ant round the Pontiae islands. They stand like pigs'
hams fixed bolt upright in the sand ; and, gaping not
less than a foot wide where there is broad enough
space,° they lie in wait for food. They have, all
round the edges of the shells, teeth set thick like
those of a comb ; inside is a large fleshy muscle.
I once saw also a " hyaena "-fish (puntazzo) which was
taken in the island Aenaria.

Besides all these creatures, certain off-scourings
also come out of the sea; they are not worth a
description and are to be counted amongst sea-weeds
and not amongst living creatures.

a Or, if we read quae, " according to their expansiveness."

561

ADDITIOXAL XOTES

Additional Xote A.

Mensa.

When used in reference to food mensa may have various
meanings : —

(1) Dining-table.

(2) Small table, which when of many shelves was called

repositorium. See Petionius Satyr. 34 : suam
cuique mensam assignari.

(3) Course.

(4) Square slice of bread (quadra), used as a plate. See

Aeneid VII 115: patuHs nec parcere quadris;
" Heus, etiam mensas consumimus," inquit Iulus.

(5) A round plate, lanx or discus. See Pliny XXXIII

§ 140 : iam vero et mensas repositoriis imponimus
ad sustinenda opsonia.

In Phny XXVIII we have :

§ 24 nam si mensa adsit. Meaning (1).

§ 26 aquis sub mensam profusis. Meaning (1).

§ 26 mensam vel repositorium tolli. Either (2) or (5).

§ 26 mensa hnquenda non sit, nondum enim plures quam

convivae numerabantur. The first seems to be (1) but

plures to be (2). See, however, Wolters ad loc.
§ 27 utique per mensas. This is (2) on the usual inter-

pretation, but (3) on that of Wolters.
§ 27 in mensa utique id reponi. This might be either (1)

or (2).

Additional Note B.

The Hyaena.

The Romans were rather puzzled, and perhaps a little
frightened, by the hyaena and its strange habits. Pliny has

563

ADDITIONAL NOTES

a short chapter (VIII §§ 105, 106) in which he refers to many
popular beliefs about the animal : that it is bi-sexual, becoming
male and female in alternate years ; that it can imitate human
speech, a belief arising perhaps from its laughing cry ; that it
imitates a person being sick, so as to attract dogs ; that it digs
up graves in search of corpses ; and that it is an animal possess-
ing magic powers.

Pliny seems to have obtained most if not all his information
from books on magic, for perhaps none of the seventy-nine
" remedies " in chapter XXVII of the twenty-eighth book can
be considered rational. Neither Serenus nor Sextus Placitus
mentions the animal, but Scribonius Largus makes use of
hyaena's gall in an eye-salve (XXXVIII), and has much to say
about a recipe for hydrophobia which he obtained pro magno
munere from a medicus called Zopyrus (CLXXI and CLXXII).
It turned out to be a piece of hyaena skin wrapped up in cloth.
Scribonius took great pains to prepare the amulet and keep it
ready, but confesses that he had not yet had a chance to put
it to the test. Many of the Iwaena remedies were probably
fraudulent iniitations, although hyaenas must have formed
part of the wild-beast shows of which the Romans were so
fond.

Additional Note C.
Sympathy and Antipathy.

" The Greeks have applied the terms ' sympathy ' and
' antipathy ' to the principle of Nature that water puts out
fire . . . the magnetic stone draws iron to itself while another
kind repels it . . . the diamond, unbreakable by any other
force, is broken by goafs blood." So says Pliny (XX §§ 1, 2).
At the beginning of Book XXIV he gives a longer list, from
which examples are : oak and olive ; oak and walnut ; cabbage
and vine ; cabbage and cyclamen or marjoram ; all being
f-ontraries. The affinities include : pitch and oil, both being
fatty; gum and vinegar, which washes gum out; ink and
water, whieh combine readily.

In the working out of this theory there must inevitably be,
to modern minds, some inconsistency and much sheer fancy.
The theory itself is fanciful, and more akin to the " Love and
Hate " of Empedocles than to the convenientia of the Stoics,

564

ADDITTONAL NOTES

although parallels or analogies might be foun 1 in the scientific
concepts of today. There was a tendency in Greek specula-
tion to take an attractive idea, work it to death, and ignore or
brush aside objections to it. Pliny says (XXIV § 4) of sym-
pathy and antipathy : " Hence medicine was born." But it
is not always clear whether a remedy is a cure because of anti-
pathy to the disease or because of sympathy with it. The
neutralization of disease suggests the former; the " doctrine
of signatures " the latter. When, however, Pliny says
(XXVIII § 147) that the power of sympathy under the in-
fiuence of religio is great enough to render harmless the drink-
ing of bull's blood by the priestess of Earth at Aegira, the
reasoning is hard to follow. Various explanations could be
given, but most modern minds would have been more satisfied
if Pliny had said that the power of religio is so great that it can
turn antipathy into sympathy.

Dr. W. T/Fernie, Animal Simples, pp. 63-65, says that
bull's blood was once a favourite beverage ! He also refers to
Grote's suggestion that imperfect prussic acid, which may be
obtained from blood, may have been called " ox-blood."
There was a story that Themistocles committed suicide by
drinking bulTs blood, and the belief in its poisonous nature
long persisted.

There is an article on " sympathy," Der Heilmagnetismus
bei Plinius, by Th. Steinwender, in Zeitschrift fur die Oester-
reichischen Gymnasien, LXIX 1-20.

Additional Xote D.

Pliny says (XXVIII. 108) that there are two kinds of
crocodile, the second being smaller, living on land only, and
eating scented plants so that in its bowels is formed a much-
prized substance called crocodilea.

Actually Egypt has today but one crocodile, the Crocodilus
niloticus, which has, however, two musk glands, one under
the throat and the other in its cloaca.

We can only guess why Pliny says that the scent was taken
from small crocodiles living on land. Pliny seems to have
misunderstood his authorities; perhaps the perfumers kept
babv crododiles in semi-domestication.

565

ADDITIONAL NOTES

Additional Note E.

P. Fournier, writing in the Revue de Philologie for 1952
and 1953, has a few Notulae Plinianae which did not come
to my attention in time to be mentioned in vol. VII. He
thinks that populus should often be replaced by opulus, and
ornus by cornus. For purely botanical reasons, he suggests
the following emendations:

In XXV. § 125, in ulvis for in silvis.

In XXVI. § 56, paleali for pallioli.

In XXVI. § 95, tensior for tenuior.

In XXVII. § 104, seridis for iridis.

Additional Note F.
Pliny Book XXX.

In XXX. § 24, taking the best attested readings, we have :
«s quoque vermiculus . . . mire prodest. nam urucae brassicae
eius contactu cadunt et e malva cimices infunduntur auribus.
This gives : " The grub also . . . is wonderfully good (sc. for the
teeth). For (or But) cabbage caterpillars fall at its touch,
and bugs from the mallow are poured into ears." This is
rather a non sequitur. Mayhoff emends: urucae e brassicae
foliis. That is : " But at the touch of the caterpillar from
the leaves of cabbages teeth fall out, and bugs, etc."

Professor Warmington would read : " mire prodest, nam eius
contactu cadunt ; urucae brassicae et e malva cimices, etc." —
a simple transposition : " is wonderfully good, for at its touch
teeth fall out; cabbage caterpillars and bugs from mallow,
etc."

Additional Note G.
Pliny Book XXX.

In XXX. 64 the best MSS. have : in dolore si quis aquam per
pedes fluentes (or fluentis) liaurire sustineat. Mayhoff has : in
dolore si quis aquam ter pedes eluens haurire sustineat. The
order of the words suggests that ter goes with eluens, but the
sense that it goes with haurire.

Professor Warmington would keep per and change fluentes
to fluentem. " If anyone when in pain can bring himself to
swallow the water that swirjs about his feet."

566

ADDITIONAL XOTES

Additional Note H.
Pliny Book XXXI, § 38.

The MSS. read: certior subtilitas, inter pares mehorem
esse quae calefiat refrigereturque celerius, quin et haustam
vasis ne manus pendeant depositisque in humum tepescere
adfirmant.

The second sentence is very difficult, and one is reminded of
Mayhoffs warning in the Appendix to Vol. IV. (p. 497):
verum in tabbus rebus, quae omni ratione careant, rectius est
desperare quam nullo testimoniorum adiumento e sobs bt-
terarum vestigiis inanem coniecturam facere. Although it
cannot be said that omnis ratio is wanting, yet the ratio is very
obscure, and is perhaps irrecoverable.

The subject of the passage is the wholesomeness or " bght-
ness " of water. It has just been said that the lightness can-
not be determmed by a pair of scales or steelyard. A more
delicate test is the increase in heat when the water is placed in
pots on the ground. The problem is: was Pliny's intention
to say, " don't weigh " or " don't warm by touching "?
Either alternative would require considerable emendation.
Mayboff adopts from a Dalechamp variant manu for manus,
and adds portatis after vasis in order to balance impositisque,
" in pots carried without weighing by hand and placed etc." ;
Detlefsen, aiming at much the same sense, reads manus
suspendant, and leaves the -que difficult to explain. The
other interpretation would require a radical change of pendeant
to tangant or tepeant, and perhaps other changes as weU. The
difficulty of que might be overcome by reading impositam, and
if the avoidance of warming by touch is the point of the
we-clause, ansatis, " with handles," a Plinian word, would be
better than Mayhoffs portatis.

On the whole it is best to confess that the sentence is a
puzzle hitherto unsolved, and that two meanings are possible,
with a preference for the one that implies weighing.

Additional Note I.
Pliny XXXI. Ch. 46.

Nitrum, from the Arabic natron, was probably a mixture of
sodium carbonate, calcium carbonate, and various chlorides.
It was often obtained from pools X.W. of Cairo,

567

ADDITIONAL NOTES

From the acconnt of Pliny we can conclude with certainty
that nitrum was to a great extent soda, but not entirely so.
We are told, for instance, that it could be used instead of salt
in making bread, that it turned green vegetables greener, that
with dill, cummin, or rue it relieved gripes, that it dissolved
in the mouth, and that sometimes, but not always, it crackled
in fire.

Soda scum (spuma nitri, aphronitrum) was said to ooze
from the sides of certain caves in Asia and also to come from
Egypt. It was probably carbonates and nitrates of soda and
potash, coloured bv copper and iron oxides. See the Loeb
Pliny, vol. II, p. LII.

Additional Xote J.

Pliny discusses sponges in IX. Ch. 69,
and XXXI. Ch. 47.

In the former he says that sponges have four or five fistulae,
going all the way through, and that there are others, closed at
the upper end. A niodern article on sponges will probably
refer to the various holes of a sponge as canals, apertures,
pores, cavities, funnels, oscules, according to their shape or
purpose. Pliny calls the holes by one name only, fistulae.
Now Pliny knew, or took from his authorities, that sponges
were animal, but it is sometimes impossible to make out
whether he is speaking of the living sponge or of the domestic
article. Most of XXXI. Ch. 47, deals with the latter, but the
classification is apparently concerned with the former.

Pliny's second class, the female, is said to have fistulae
perpetuae, but the third class to have fistulae that are very
small and very numerous. The words of Pliny imply that
his first and third classes have fistulae that are not perpetuae.

As a matter of fact, the oscules of all living sponges never
close. Therefore, if perpetuus can mean " never-closing,"
and if Pliny has in mind sponges in their native state, he is
attributing to a particular class a characteristic that really
belongs to them all. The adjective perpetuus, however, is a
strange one to use in this sense, as it means properly " long
and unbroken."

It is probable that Pliny has written carelessly and vaguely,
and in partial ignorance.

568

POPULAR MEDICIXE IX AXCIEXT
ITALY

The origin of medicine is obscure. Some anthro-
pologists, arguing from the customs of primitive
peoples, tell us that it arose from magic. By that
term are meant powers. which we should call super-
natural, but to primitive man were quite normal,
supposed to reside in certain objects, and capable of
being put into action by those who know the proper
procedure. Magic of this kind has played a large
part in the evolution of medicine, but before the age
of magic there may have been a period, perhaps a
long one, when man, like a sick dog, treated himself
instinctively if ill or in pain. Yery soon in the age
of magic appeared " medicine men," who did much
to build up a svstem of ritual, incantations, amulets,
and taboos, which reinforced or even replaced the
vegetable or animal remedies. Out of this stage,
there slowlv evolved, as man's reasoning power
grew, the stage of rational medicine, in which the
medicine man was superseded by the professional
physician or surgeon, although many of his dutie^
were carried out by the head of the family. In this
way arose the distinction, which even today has not
disappeared, between professional, and folk or
popular, medicine.

The best professionals of Greece, mostly by their
bwn efforts but partly through the influence of other
countries, especially Egypt, had by 400 b.c. entirely

569

POPULAR MEDICINE IN ANCIENT ITALY

discarded superstitious methods of healing. Two
treatises ° in the Hippocratic Corpus declare that
all diseases are due to natural causes, and can be
cured only by natural means. But traces of super-
stitution are to be seen in the works of Celsus and
Galen, and in popular medicine it flourished. The
truth is that, however much the best physicians
despised them, superstitious methods had their uses.
A patient who is cheerful, and buoyed up by strong,
even if false hopes, is more likely to do well than is
a patient worried and depressed. If a man has com-
plete faith in the efficacy of a completely inert
compound, his chances of recovery are improved
merely by the psychological effect of his belief.
Herein lies at least one reason for the long vogue of
medicines that we now know are physiologically use-
less. Magical ritual and incantations were often
amusing, and always gave the impression that some-
thing of great importance was about to happen.
The power of suggestion and auto-suggestion had
full scope to act, especially among people who were
far more credulous and superstitious than the present
age of positive science.

Roman medicine for many generations was entirely
popular, for the Romans never developed a scientific
medicine of their own. Until 219 b.c. when the
Greek physician Archagathus migrated to Rome
from the Peloponnesus, they doctored themselves.b
Cato's hatred of professional physicians, apparent in

a Airs, Waters, Places and Sacred Disease.

6 Doetors froni Magna Graecia certainly influenced,
directly or indirectly, medical practice in the rest of Italy,
but we know little about the details. At Croton was one of
the first Greek medical schools.

57°

POPULAR MEDICINE IN ANCIENT ITALY

the letter to his son, may have been unusually strong,
but Pliny's dislike was almost as great, and marked
disapproval is shown by Pliny Junior, Serenus, and
pseudo-Apuleius. There were many low-class
physicians in the Graeco-Roman world, for no tests
were required before beginning a practice. These
deserved all the blame bestowed upon them by their
disappointed dupes; Pliny, however, picks out for his
most venomous attack Asclepiades, who was really a
good physician and highly praised by Celsus.

During and after the Roman conquest of Greece,
there came to Italy great numbers of these poorly
qualified men, who, desirous of making a living,
pandered to the tastes and fancies of the self-doctor-
ing Romans, supplying them with remedies of
different sorts, but most of them useless except as
faith cures. In this way there came to be known to
the Romans a vast number of foreign drugs, most of
which were perhaps never tried in Italy at all, but
many of them appear to have become popular. How
these new remedies were put on the market or

advertised " (as we might say) can be seen by
reading the Compositiones of Scribonius Largus, a
lower-grade doctor of perhaps a better type than the
majority. He confesses to buying quack remedies
from an African midiercula and a Roman honesta
matrona, and one for pleurisy from a man who, to
keep his prescription a secret, pretended to include
ingredients which actually he never used.a He also
bought from his friend Zopyrus of Gortyn pro magno
munere an amulet to protect from hydrophobia — a
piece of hyena skin wrapped in cloth.b

a See pp. 53, 10, 11, 41 of Helmreich's edition.
b See p. 70 (Helmreich).

57i

POPULAR MEDICINK IN ANCIKNT ITALY

But the man who introduced to the Romans most
of the new or foreign remedies was Pliny himself,
who in Books XX-XXXII gives perhaps several
thousands. He did little, if any, independent
research, but collected recipes, botanical and
animal, from every available source, including some
he professed to dislike. According to his own state-
ment Pliny preferred herbal simples, but he pre-
scribes without disapproval mixtures, animal reme-
dies, remedies from professional doctors and even
those of the Magi, whom he cordially hated. The
grosser forms of superstition — draughts of blood and
relics from the cross or gallows — aroused his scorn,
but he places them on record, while amulets, ritual,
and incantations, are described or mentioned, though
often prefixed by " they say that," or " it is thought
that." Pliny sometimes reports gossip, and forgets
his professed aim to be utilitarian. In this jumble
of so-called cures very little guidance is given to the
harassed attendant in search of a remedy for a
difficult case.

The Natural History is not a good practical text-
book. So thought many who later wrote popular
works on the same subject, several of which are ex-
tant. These picked out recipes that appealed to them
from Pliny's book,adding some from other sources. By
the time of Plinius Junior, who wrote what is probably
the earliest of the extant epitomes, a great deal of the
matter in the Natural History had become what may
be called communal knowledge, so that direct
borrowing from Pliny, although possible, should not
necessarily be assumed. The " Pliny " just men-
tioned is the pen-name of one who wrote a medicina
Plinii about a.d. 350. He was followed by Serenus

572

POPULAR MEDICINE IN ANCIENT ITALY

Sammonicus, the author of a didactic poem in 1107
hexameters, covering the whole ground in 64
sections, pseudo-Apuleius w&th his Herbarius, Sextus
Placitus, who gives recipes only from animals and
birds, and Marcellus Empiricus of Bordeaux. The
dates of these four are uncertain, but are grouped
around a.d. 400.

Animal remedies, as given by Pliny, are very often,
perhaps usually, based on a simple magic, such as
V like cures like." There is some magic in the plant
remedies, but much more in those from animals.
The reason may be that animals, more akin to man
than plants, have a closer " sympathy " and a
sharper " antipathy," two rather mysterious qualities
which Pliny, influenced by some Greek thinker,
believed to be the active principles in all cures. The
magic of the medical Books is of a mild and inoffensive
kind — ritual, incantations, amulets, neglect of
rational doses for those with the magical numbers
three, seven, nine, and so on.

A typical but imaginative Plinian cure might be to
draw a ring round a plant with iron, gather it at night
without letting it fall to the ground, say for what
purpose and for whom it is gathered, and to
administer three leaves or three cyathi of a decoction.
In a dose of this kind there is " power " (yis), not only
in the plant, but in the ritual, the words, and the
number three.

Popular medicine in Italy can be better under-
stood if contrasted with professional medicine, which
among the Greeks had reached a very high standard
by 400 b.c. At Alexandria a hundred years later a
further advance was made, and Celsus wrote a text-
book inspired by Alexandrian influence. By com-

573

POPULAR MEDICINK IN ANCIENT ITALY

paring the treatment of epilepsy or malaria in Celsus
and PHny we can throw some light on the question,
especially if we remember that epilepsy frightened
the ancients, and that malaria was obstinate or in-
curable. The professionals discarded all superstitious
or magical remedies, and relied on regimen, rest, and
warmth, using drugs (except purges and emetics) very
sparingly. Popular medicine had recourse to any
and every supposed remedy, however absurd and dis-
gusting to our minds, and to amulets, incantations,
and various other kinds of magic. What we call
" shock " remedies were sometimes employed; one
of the most striking, used in the treatment of another
disease, was to duck the victims of hydrophobia
unawares into cold water.

Some popular medicines used were really of thera-
peutic value, but most of them were chosen because
of a fanciful resemblance or relationship to the
disease, e.g. black hellebore for diseases caused by
black bile. Very common were amulets, usually
prophylactic, although curative became common in
Italy in the first century a.d. A common type of
amulet is to take the eye of a crab, the crab being
allowed to go free, and to wear it as an amulet for
diseases of the eye. The theory behind all this is that
the crab's eye retains power to heal eyes so long as
the crab lives ; the eye amulet absorbs the eye trouble
and transfers it to the mutilated animal, which
usually dies, carrying with it the complaint.

Pliny did not like compound prescriptions, but
Roman popular medicine had several, for in order to
make sure of the proper ingredient a great number
of them were often combined in a " blunderbuss," as
in the famous antidote of Mithridates, which finally

574

POPULAR MEDICINE IN ANCIENT ITALY

had over seventy components. Conversely, when a
remedy was found suitable for one complaint it was
often assumed by false analogy that it would be good
for many others. The outstanding example is
betony, used for forty-seven ailments.

The main conclusion to be drawn is that popular
cures, except in a few obvious cases, were faith cures.
Faith is a powerful healer today ; in ancient times,
owing to the greater credulity of the age, it was
probably a far more effective healer.

575

LIST OF DISEASES AND AFFEC
TIONS MENTIONED BY PLINY

To equate modern diseases with the naraes used by ancient
physicians is a task full of uncertainty. In some cases indeed
there is no difficulty; a disease may have such distinctive
symptoms, and be so unlike any other, that its description
in Celsus or Galen points clearly to one, and only one, diag-
nosis, examples being intermittent malarial fevers and the
oommon cold. Pneumonia again in both Greek and Latin
writings is usually easy to detect (although there is some
chance of confusion with acute bronchitis), and so are also
dropsy and pleurisy. Often, however, we can do no more
than divide into groups : (1) diseases and (2) the ancient
names of diseases, and then identify a group from one with
a group from the other. Many quite different diseases are
co ahke symptomatically that identification can be estab-
Aied, even today, only by a microscopic examination con-
ducted with a technique quite unknown to the ancients.
Great care is needed with eye diseases and skin diseases, both
of which were far more common in earlier days than they are
with us, for dust was everywhere and disinfecting cleansing
was practically unknown. The principle of grouping is nearly
always the safest one to adopt ; to attempt more is hazardous.
For example, we have on the one hand collectio, furunculus,
panus, vomica and tumor ; on the other we have " boil,"
" abscess," " gathering " and " carbuncle." The group of
complaints covered by the Latin terms is nearly, if not quite,
the same as that covered by the English, but any attempt to
make more specific identification is attended with much
uncertainty; perhaps panus is the only one we can isolate
more completely.

577

VOL. VIII. U

LIST OF DISEASES

More important for our appreciation of antiquity than the
identification of specific diseases is to ascertain which, if
any, modern diseases were unknown in the Hellenistic age.
Here the evidence, especially that relating to infectious fevers,
is most disappointing. These fevers are endemic in the
modern world, and figure largely in treatises on pathology.
But the old medical writers — " Hippocrates," Celsus, Galen
and the many compilers who succeeded Galen — do not
describe, or give treatment for, small-pox, chicken-pox,
measles, scarlatina, typhoid or even influenza. The most that
can be said is that in isolated clinical histories or in chance
aphoristic remarks one or other of them may be referred to ;
the evidence is strongest for diphtheria. Moreover, in the
pseudo-Aristotelian Problems (VII 8) it is said that con-
sumption, ophthalmia and the itch are infectious, but that
fevers are not. It is difficult to believe that a people who
knew that cons\imption is infectious would have called scarla-
tina non-infectious if it had been endemic among them.

The Romans borrowed many names of diseases from the
Greeks. Usually, of course, the Latin word refers to the
same disease as does the Greek, especially in the works of
medical writers. But care must be exercised; AeVpa, for
instance, seems to be much narrower than lepra.

Celsus is by far the most trustworthy authority to follow
in identifying the diseases mentioned by Pliny, for both
were Romans, both (probably) laymen and nearly con-
temporaries.

Aegilops. — A lacrimal fistula at count of it, sayiug that it

the angle noar the nose. occurred in the hair and

Albugo. — An unknowri kind of beard. He distinguishes it

white ulcer on the eye. In from ofiiaois, probably ring-

XXVI § 160 used of a head worm, for this had a winding

ulcer. The word occurs only in shape, whereas alopecia " sub

the Vulgate Bible and in Pliny. qualibet figura dilatatur."

Alopecia. — A disease in which Amphemerinos. — Quotidian ma-

the hair fell out. Meaning laria.

literally " fox mange," it is Angina. — An acute swelling in

translated " mange " in the the neck, generally quinsy. A

text. It is perhaps unsafe to loose term like our " sore

limitittothemodernalopecia. throat." Sometimes possibly

Celsus (VI 4) lias a britif ac- diphthoria.

578

LIST OF DISEASES

Apostema. — Greek for abscess.

Argema. — A small white ulcer,
partly on the cornea, partly on
the sclerotic coat of the eye.

Artiodarius morbus. — This in
XXII 34 is joined to poda-
gricus, and so means probably
not gout but arthritis.

Asthma . — A pparentlv only
XXVI 34. See also XXV 82.

Atrophus. — " Wasting away,"
of allsuch conditions, of which
phthisis is one.

Boa. — " A disease when the
body is red with pimples,"
XXIV 53. See also XXVI
120. An exanthem not cer-
tainly identified. Shingles is
localised. It cannot be, as
Hardouin thought, measles,
because that disease seems to
have been first described by
Rhazes.

Cachecta. — A patient who is in a
very bad state of health ; some-
times a " consumptive " patient
is meant.

Cacoethes. — A Greek adjective
applied to sores that are very
difficult or impossible to cure ;
" malignant " is the nearest,but
not quite exact, equivalent.

Calculus. — Stone or gravel in
the bladder.

Caligo. — Dimness of the eyes,
hard to distinguish from
nubecula (film) and caligatio
(mistiness).

Carbunculus. — In XXVI 5, 6
seems certainly to be anthrax,
and Pliny's description re-
sembles that of Celsus V 28, 1.
The word was, however, used
of minor affections ; for
example, carbunculus oculi is
a stye, and it is often used of
a bad abscess.

Carcinoma. — Superficial malig-
nant disease, severe forms of
which are called cacoethe.
It seems impossible to dis-
tinguish, at least in Pliny,
carcinoma from ulcera cacoethe,
phagedaena and gangraena.

Cardiacus. — The adjective refers
to either disease or patient.
Sometimes a simple ailment,
heartburn, is referred to,
at other times a serious
complaint, said by W. G.
Spencer on Celsus III 19 to
be a kind of syncope. In fact
the reference may be to any
ailment supposed to be con-
nected with the heart.

Cephalaea. — Aretaeus (III 2)
calls this a severe, chronic
headache, and says that there
are iSeai ut/ptai- Persistent
neuralgia, except when it
•means malarial headache, must
be the complaint referred to.

Cerium. — Described by W. G.
Spencer on Celsus V 28, 13
as a follicular abscess among
hair. Its appearance — Kt)piov
means " honeycomb " — en-
ables us to distinguish it from
panus ; it was also often more
severe.

Chiragra. — Gout or gouty pains
in the hands. But see
podagra.

Cholera. — Perhaps never Asiatic
cholera, but cholera nostras
and possibly certain types of
dysentery and severe diar-
rhoea. The word is derived
from X°^V' "bile."

Clavus. — Wart, corn or callus.

Coeliacus morbus. — W. G.
Spencer on Celsus IV 19, 1
(last note) says that the
author appears to be de-

579

LIST OF DISEASES

scribing pyloric spasm and

intestina) atony. Cf. Aretaeus

IV 7.
Collectio. — The most general

tenn for a boil or abscess,

a " gathering."
Colostratio. — Disease of babies

caused by the first milk.
Colum. — Colitis, or inflammation

of the colon.
Comitialis morbns. — Epilepsy

and sometimes other fits.
Condyloma. — A small tumour

in the anus due to inflam-

mation. See Celsus VI 18, 8.
Convulsa. — Sprains.
Cotidiana. — Quotidian ague,

malaria with fever occurring

every day.
Destillatio. — A "running" cold

in the head. Sometimes in-

ternal catarrh.
Duritia. — An induration, from

whatever cause, in any part

of the body.
Dysinteria. — Usually dysentery,

but probably also severe

diarrhoea, however caused.
Dyspnoea. — Difficulty of breath-

ing, however caused.
Elephantiasis . — The usual name

of leprosy. See XXVI 7 and

8, where it is said to have

quickly died out in Italy.
Enterocele. — Hernia .
Epinyctis. — Either ( 1 ) a sore on

the eye-lid or (2) an eruption

caused by fleas or bugs.
Epiphora. — Running from the

eyes as the result of some

ailment.
Eruptio. — A bursting out of

morbid matter, either through

the skin or sometimes in other

ways.
Extuberatio. — A fleshy ex-

crescence, perhaps not morbid.

The word apparently occurs

only in XXXI 104.
Febris. — Feverishness, or else

one of the recognised types

of malaria.
Fistula. — Practically synonym-

ous with the modern term.
Flemina. — A severe congestion

of blood around the ankles.

It is neuter plural.
Fluctio and fluxus. — Thereseems

to be little if any difference in

the meaning of these words

— any flow, but usually a mor-

bid one. Pliny prefers fluctio.
Formicatio. — An irritating wart.

See Celsus V 28, 14.
Furfur. — Scurf (anywhere).
Furunculus. — A boil, said by

Celsus (V 28, 8) not to be

dangerous, whereas Pliny

(XXVI 125) says that it is

sometimes mortiferum malum.
Oangraena. — Gangrene, hard to

distinguish from phagedaena

and ulcera serpentia.
Oemursa. — A disease the seat of

which was between the toes.

It is said by Pliny (XXVI 8)

to have died out quickly in

Italy. See Littre's note.
Olaucoma. — Opaqueness of the

crystalline lens.
Oravedo. — The usual term for

the common cold.
Oremia. — R heum.
Hepaticus. — A sufferer from any

liver complaint.
Herpes. — A spreading eruption

on the skin.
Hydrocelicus. — A sufferer from

hydrocele.
Hydropisis. — Dropsy.
Hypoch ysis . — Cataract.
Ictericus. — A sufferer from

jaundice.
Ignis sacer. — Erysipelas. Per-

58o

LIST OF DISEASES

haps also some form of eczema
or lupus. Also == shingles.

Ileus. — Severe colic. Possibly
appendicitis was included
under this term.

Impetigo. — The Romans used
this term of various kinds of
eczema. Celsus (V 28, 17)
mentions four, the last being
incurable.

Impetus. — Inflammation or an
inflamed swelling; Pliny has
impetus oculorum. With the
genitive of a word meaning
a specific disease it denotes
an attack of it.

Intertrigo. — Chafing, especially
between the legs.

Ischias. — Sciatica.

Laterum dolor. — " Severe pain
in the side," nearly always
pleurisy.

Lentigo. — Freckles.

Leprae. — Seems to be used of
any scaly disease of the skin ;
Pliny gives cures. There was
a kind regarded as incurable,
but this is not mentioned by
Pliny, who has forty-six
references, all to cures.

Lethargus (lethargia). — In Hip-
pocrates probably the coma-
tose form of pernieious ma-
laria, but later perhaps also
prolonged coma of any kind.

Lichen. — This is said by Pliny
(XXVI 2-4) to be a new
disease to Italy, usually
beginning on the chin. Hence
the name mentagra (chin
disease). Littre diagnoses it as
leprosy, but Pliny says (XXVI
§ 1) sine dolore quidem illos, ac
sine pernicie vitae. This state-
ment, as Pliny puts it, applies
also to carbunculus and
elephantiasis, but Pliny's own

account of these diseases is
quite inconsistent with sine
pernicie. So Pliny's remark
is carelessly inaccurate, or
applies only to lichenes.

Lippitudo. — Inflammation of the
eye, generally ophthalmia.

Luxata. — Dislocations.

Malandria. — Pustules on the
neck.

Melancholicus. — One suffering
from melancholia, which in-
cluded malarial cachexia and
many melancholic conditions,
even mere nervousness. In
fact it included any disease
supposed to be caused by
" black bile " (fieXaiva x°^V)-

Mentagra.—ln XXVI 2 called
a lichen beginning on the
chin. See lichen.

Nome (pl. nomae). — A spreading
ulcer, much the same as
ulcus serpens.

Nubecula. — A cloudy film on
the eye, sometimes cataract.

Nyctalops. — One afflicted with
night blindness.

Opisthotonus. — The form of
tetanus in which the body
curves backwards.

Orthopnoea. — Serious asthma,
when the patient cannot
breathe unless upright.

Panus. — Spencer in a note on
Celsus V 18, 19 calls this a
" superficial abscess in a
hair follicle." It occurred
chiefly on the scalp, on the
groin and under the arm.

Paronychia (-um). — Whitlow.

Parotis. — A swelling of the
glands by the ears. Some
authorities think that it
may have included mumps,
which is described in Hippo-
crates, Epidemics 1.

S8i

LIST OF DISEASES

Perfnctio. — Sometirnes a severe
chill.

Peripleumonicus. — A sufferer
from pneumonia.

Ptrnio. — Chilblain.

Pestilentia. — Plague ; a term as
vague as the English, but
usually bubonic.

Phagedaena. — Gangrene, hard to
distinguish from gangraena.
In XXVI 100 an abnormal
diseased appetite.

Phlegmon. — Infiammation be-
neath the skin.

Phreniticus. — Properly a sufferer
from phrenitis or phrenesis,
pernicious malaria accom-
panied by raving. It also
refers to the symptom when
not caused by malaria, for
in post-Hippocratic medical
works it often seems equi-
valent to "brain fever." Per-
haps sometimes meningitis.

Phthiriasis. — Phthiriasis, skin
disease caused by lice.

Phthisis. — Pulmonary consump-
tion.

Pituita. — Excessive mucus, in
any part of the body.

Pleuriticus. — A sufferer from
pleurisy.

Plumbum in XXV 155, points to
the leaden bluish colour of
certain eye diseases. Serenus
XIV 33 : si vero horrendum
ducent glaucomata plumbum.

Podagra. — Gout or gouty pains
in the foot. Sometimes per-
haps the result of lead
poisoning. See Spencer's
Celsus I 464. Pliny (XXVI
100) says that the disease
was on the increase in his day.
The word (often with chiragra)
refers sometimes to pains
caused by senile degeneration.

582

Porrigo. — Dandruff or scurf (on
hairy parts).

Prurigo and pruritus. — Itch ; the
words can scarcely be dis-
criminated, although perhaps
pruritus tends to be used of
the symptom, prurigo of the
infection.

Psora. — Several skin diseases
are included under this term
among which aro itch and
perhaps leprosy.

Pterygium. — An inflammatory
swelling at the inner angle of
the lower eyelid ; another
name for it is unguis. It also
means a whitlow.

Pusula. — Pustule or blister.

Quartana. — Quartan ague, or
malaria occurring after inter-
vals of two days. It was
reckoned the mildest form of
the disease.

Ramex. — Hernia.

Regius morbus. — Jaundice.

Rhagades. — Chaps.

Rheumatismus. — Catarrh,
whether of the nose, throat
or stomach.

Rosio. — Gnawing pain in the
chest or bowels.

Rupta. — Torn muscles etc.

Scabies. — Not our scabies, which
is caused by the itch mite,
but described by Celsus (V
28, 16) as a hardening of the
skin, which grows ruddy and
bursts into pustules with
itching ulceration. It in-
cludes many types of eczema.
Scabies of the bladder, a dis-
ease of which the symptom was
scaly concretions in the urine.

Scabritia. — Diseased roughness
of fingers, nails, eyes, etc.

Scelotyrbe. — Lameness of the
knee or ankle.

LIST OF DISEASES

Siriasis. — Probably some form
of simstroke.

Spasma. — Cramp.

Splenicus. — Suffering from en-
larged or diseased spleen.
Enlargement of the spleen is
a common after-effect of
repeated attacks of malaria.

Stegna. — See noteon XXIII 120.

Stomacace. — Scurvy of the
mouth.

Stomachicus. — It is doubtful
whether this means " one with
stomach trouble" or "one with
disease of the oesophagus."
It is a word not much used by
medical writers, but Caelius
Aurelianus has a section on
disease of the oesophagus.
Although the Romans dis-
tinguished (Celsus IV 1)
stomach from oesophagus
(stomachus can mean either),
they appear to have described
under the same name their
morbid conditions. In English
"stomach," at least in popu-
lar speech, is equally vague.

Stranguria. — Strangury.

Struma. — A scrofulous sore.

Suffusio. — Usually cataract.

Suspiriosus. — Asthmatic. Ap-
parently a popular word, as
it is rarely found in the
medical writers.

Syntecticus. — One wasting away,
from whatever cause.

Tertiana. — Tertian ague, ma-
laria with an onset every
other day.

Testa. — A brick-coloured spot
on the face. See XXVI 163
and XXVIII 185.

Tetanus. — Tetanus. See Celsus
IV 6, 1 with Spencer's notes
on opisthotonus and empros-
thotonus.

Tormina (neut. pl.). — A general
word for colic. It also soine-
times means strangury.

Tremulus. — One with morbid
tremors, palsied. See XX 85
paralyticis et tremulis.

Tuber. — A hard tumour.

Tumor. — Any morbid swelling.

Tussis. — A cough — the com-
plaint rather than the act.

Tympanicus. — One afflicted with
tympanites, a kind of dropsy,
which makes the belly
swell.

Ulcus. — A favourite word with
Pliny, usually used in the
plural. Ulcera manantia are
" running " sores, and ulcera
putrescentia (serpentia) in-
clude gangrene and super-
ficial malignant diseases.

Unguis. — Another name for
pterygium, an inflammatory
swelling at the inner angle of
the lower eyelid.

Variz. — Varicose vein.

Varus. — A pimple on the face.

Verruca. — Wart, a less wide
term than clavus.

Vertigo. — Vertigo, usually giddi-
ness caused by illness.

Vitiligo. — This includes more
than one kind of psoriasis.
The Pvomans distinguished
the dull white, the dark, and
the bright white. Sometimes
perhaps leprosy.

Vomica. — Abscess; any gather-
mg of pus, but apparently
larger than furunculus. It was
sometimes internal, but panus
was superficial.

Zoster. — This ("girdle disease")
was herpes round the waist,
possibly shingles. Pliny calls
it a form of erysipelas (igni*
sacer), XXVI 121.

583

INDEX OF FISHES

Index of Fishes, including (marked *) sea-mammals,
Molluscs, Crustaceans, and other animals.

A charne, XXXII 145; probably
Serranus gigas, Great Sea-
Perch.

Ac(c)ipenser, IX 60; XXXII
145, 153; Acipenser sturio,
Sturgeon.

*Achillium, IX 148 (cf. XXXI
125); a fine, soft Sponge.

* Actinophorae, XXXII 148;
some spiral univalve, perhaps
the mollusc Aponais pes-pele-
cani, Pelican's Foot.

Acus, IX 166; Syngnathus acus
and rubescens, Pipe-fish (not
Belone belone, Garfish).

Adonis, IX 70; Blenny, pro-
bably Blennius Montagui.

Alabeta, V 51; Labeo niloticus,
Lebis (Labis). The name
should be alabes. Pliny mis-
took aXdfirjra for a nom. case.

Alopex, Alopecias, XXXII 145;
Alopias (Alopecias) vulpes,
Thresher Shark.

Amia, IX 49; Sarda sarda and
probably Thynnus pelamys,
Pelamid (a Tunny).

Anguilla, IX 4, 73 ff., 160, 189;
XXXI 36; XXXII 16, 138;
Anguilla anguilla, Eel.

Anthias, IX 180, 182; XXXII
13; a name applied to several
species of fish. It includes
(certainly in Pliny) Anthias
anthias, but also larger

fish, perhaps a large Tunny,
such as Qermo (Thynnus)
alalunga: and three sorts of
anthias mentioned by Oppian,
possibly Sciaena aquila, Cor-
vina nigra and Umbrina
cirrosa (or instead of C. nigra,
Serranus gigas, a Sea-perch
or Polyprion americanus Jew-
fish, Stone Bass). Pliny's
anthias may contain a con-
fusion with acanthias, which is
Squalus acanthias, Picked (or
Piked) Dogfish, or Centrina
Salviani.

Aper (or caper), XI 267 Para-
silurus aristotelis, a species of
catfish.

Aphye, see Apua.

*Aplysia, IX 150; a coarse
" unwashable " kind of Sponge,
not the mollusc Aplysia
depilans (Sea Hare).

Apua, aphye, IX 160; XXXI,
95; XXXII 145; the young
(small fry) of various species
of fish; also in particular
Engraulis encrasicholus, An-
chovy.

Aquila, IX 78; perhaps Mylio-
batis aquila, Eagle Ray.

Araneus, IX 155, XXXII 145;
Trachinus draco, Weever, and
the like.

*1Arbor, IX 8; XXXII 144;
unknown, perhaps a huge

585

INDEX OF FISHES

jolly-fish or octopus, or even
a mass of sea-weed.

*Aries, IX 10, 145; XXXII
144 ; perhaps a large Dolphin ;
or Orcinus orca = Orca
gladiator, Grampus, Killer
Whale. The " other arietes
having the shape of fishes,"
which Pliny mentions in the
same sentence of XXXII 144,
are uncertain.

Aselli, IX 61; principally Mcr-
luccius merluccius, Common
Hake, also Phycis mediter-
rancus, Mediterranean Hake,
and P. blennioides, Fork-beard
Hake.

*Astacus, IX 97; Homarus
gammarus, Lobster.

Attilus, IX 44; a large sturgeon,
such as Huso huso, Giant
Sturgeon.

*Aulos, XXXII 151 = Solen.

Aurata, see Chrysophrys.

[Babylon, fish at IX 175;
probably species of Perioph-
thalmus, Mud skipper, Jump-
ing fish].

Bacchus, IX 61, one of the aselli
q.v.; in XXXII 77, 102, 145,
a species of Grey Mullet, per-
haps Mugil labrosus.

*Balaenae, IX 4 ff., 12-21, 41,
186; X 210; XI 235;
XXXII 116, 144; Whales,
especially Eubalena glacialis,
Black Right Whale; Mega-
ptera novaeangliae, Humpback
Whale; Balaenoptera muscu-
lus, Common Rorqual or
Blue Whale; B. borealis,
Rudolph's Rorqual; B. Sib-
baldi var. Indica, a var. of
Sibbald's Rorqual (Pliny's

586

huge whales in Indian waters
would probably be the latter) ;
and Physeter catodon = macro-
cephalus, Sperm Whale.

*Balanus, XXIII 145; sea-
acorn, chiefly Balanus cylin-
dricus and B. tintinnabulum.

Batia, XXXII 77, 145; Raja
punctata or some other Skate.

Batrachus, XXXII 145 ; Lophius
piscatorius, Angler-fish.

Belone = Acus, q.v.; in XXXII
145 perhaps Belone belone,
Garfish.

Blendeca, Blendius, XXXII 102;
probably Blennius gattorugine,
Blenny.

Boca, XXXII 145; Box vul-
garis (Box boops), Bogue.

Bos, IX 78; XXXIII 52;
Mobula giorna, Horned Ray,
or perhaps the Grey Shark,
Notidanus griseus.

*Bucinum, IX 130, 134, 138,
Ranella gigantea or Charonia
lampas, Trumpet-shell. In
IX 130, 134, and 138 the
name includes also a Purple-
Shell, Purpura haemastoma
and Murex brandaris. Not
Whelk.

Callarias, = Collyrus, IX 61;

XXXII 146; one of the

aselli, q.v.
Callionymus, XXXII 69, 77,

146; probably Uranoscopus

scaber, Stargazer, rather than

Lophius piscatorius, Angler-

fish.
*Cammarus, XXXI 96; XXXII

148; one or more kinds of

shrimp and prawn.
*Cancer, sea-, VIII 79; 62,

95-99, 158; X 199; XI IX

INDEX OF FISHES

129, 152, 258; XVIII 293;
XIX 180; XX 120, 180;
XXIX 101; XXXI 35, 53,
54, 55, 71, 82, 87, 105, 110,
111, 116, 119, 126, 129, 131,
132, 134, 135, 147; Cancer
pagurus, the Edible Crab and
others; IX 98, 142 Hermit
Crabs and Pinna-Guard Crabs ;
see Pinoteres; river-, XXXII
53, 54, 56, 78, 88, 90, 100, 103,
107, 114, 117, 118, 125, 130,
137 Astacus fluviatilis it
seems mostly, Freshwater
Crayfish; but also Potamon
fluviatile, Freshwater Crab ;
sea- or river-, XXXI 82, 87,
105, 111, 119, 126, 129.

Canes marini, IX 40, 110; small
Dogfish or small Sharks,
especially Galeorhinus galeus,
Tope, and Scyliorhinus cani-
culus, Dogfish.

Caniculae, IX 52; Sharks; cf.
Canes.

Cantharus, XXXII 146; Spon-
dyliosoma cantharus, Black
Bream.

Caper, see Aper.

*Carabus, IX 97; Palinurus
elephas, Crawfish, see Locusta.

Cercyrus, XXXII 152; perhaps
Cepola taenia, Red band-fish.

Cetos, IX 78, 157; XXXII 10,
82; *a whale or dolphin, or a
very large fish especially a
tunny.

Chalcis, IX 154, 162; XXXII
30, 146; probably Clupea
sardina, pilchard.

Channe, IX 56, 166; XXXII
153; Paracentropristis cabrilla
and P. scriba, Sea Perch.

*Chema, XXXIII 147; a term
mostly f or various members of
the genera Chama, Venus,
Cardium, and similar types.

Chromis, IX 57; X 193;

XXXII 153, Sciaena aquiln,

Maigre, or Corvina nigra,

Black Umber.
Chrysophrys = Aurata, XXXII

43, 145, 152; Sparus aurata,

Gilthead.
Cinaedus, XXXII 146, 153; a

species of Wrasse, perhaps

Crenilabrus melops, Gold-

sinny.
Citharus, XXXII 146; perhaps

Arnoglossus laterna, Lantern-

flounder.
Clupea, IX 44; possibly *Lam-

petra planeri = Petromyzon

branchialis or marinus, a small

Lamprey. Elsewhere, usu-

allv the shad.
*Cnfde = Urtica, XXXII 146;

a Sea-anemone.
Cobio, XXXII 146; see Oobio.
Colias, XXXII 146; Pneumato-

phorus colias, Spanish Mack-

erel.
Collyrus (Callarias), IX 61;

XXXII 146; one of the aselli,

q.v.
Coluthia, see Coryphia.
*Concha, shell of any mollusc,

bivalve or gastropod; in

XXXII 93, concha is a special

name for a mussel.
*Conchylia, IX 128; collective

term for snails and mussels.
Conger, IX 57, 72, 87, 185;

XXXII 148; Conger conger,

Conger Eel.
Coracinus, V 51; IX 68;

XXXII 56; Tilapia nilotica,

Bolti; IX 57; XXXII 70,

106, 127, 145; Corvina nigra

or Umbrina cirrhosa and

Chromis castanea.
Cordyla, IX 47; XXXII 146;

very young Tunny-fishcs.
Cornuta, 19, 43; 1X82; XXXII

587

INDEX OF FISHES

145; unknown, but perhaps
Mobula giorna, Horned Ray,
or the Grey shark, Notidanna
griseus, or the Piper, Trigla
lyra.

Corvus, XXXII 146; Umbrina
cirrhosa or Corvina nigra.

*Coryphia (Coluthia), XXXII
147; small molluscs, such as
Winkles and Top-shells.

*Cucumis, IX 3; one of the
Echinoderma; a Sea-cucum-
ber, Sea-gherkin, cf. XXXII
147.

*Curaliu?n, XXXII 21-24;
XXVIII 164; cf. XIII 135,
140; Corallium rubrum, Red
Coral.

Cybion, XXXII 146; a Tunny
of a certain age, or a cut or
preparation from a Tunny.

Cynops, XXXII 147; un-
known.

*Cynosdexia, XXXII 148; an
Octopus.

Cyprinus, IX 58, unknown, un-
less in mari in 58 is an error;
162, Cyprinus carpio, Carp.

*Dactylus, IX 184, bivalve
molluscs such as Lithodomus
lithophagus, Date Shell, and
Pholas dactylus, Piddock;
and Tellen or Sunset-shells;
XXXII 151= Solen.

*Dclphinus, VIII 91; IX 19 ff.,
50, 57; X 210, 235, 263:
XVIII 361; Delphinusdelphis,
and other species of Dolphins,
which are not fish. In VIII
91 the "dolphins " which tear
open crocodiles are probably
two species of fish of the Nile
— Synodontis schall, Shall and
Schilbe mystus, Shilbe.

*Donax, XXXII 103 = Solen.

Draco, IX 82; XXIV 180;
XXVI 31; XXVII 50; XXXI
96; XXXII 44, 45, 47, 79,
148; Trachinus draco, Weev-
er and allied species.

Drino, XXXII 145; unknown.

E

Echeneis, Echenais, IX 79;
XXXII 2-6, 139, 148; Eche-
neis remora, and E. naucrates,
Sucking Fish; in IX 79 it is a
goby or blenny.

*Echinometra, IX 100; Echinus
acutus, E. melo, and Cidaris
cidaris, Sea-urchins.

*Echinus, IX 40, 99, 147, 164;
XI 165; XVIII 361; XXVIII
67; XXXI 95; XXXII 58,
67, 72, 88, 96, 103, 106, 127,
130,148; various Sea-urchins,
esp. Echinus esculentus and
Strongylocentrotus lividus.

* lElephantus , IX 10, unknown;
— hardly Walrus of the far
North?; *XXXII 148, Homa.
rus gammarus, Lobster, dark
coloured.

Elops = Acipenser, IX 60, 169;
XXXII 46; Acipenser sturio,
Sturgeon.

Enhydris, any kind of eel; cf.
Ophidion.

Epodes, XXXII 152; flatfish of
uncertain identity.

Erythinus, IX 56, 166; XXXII
101, 139, 148, 152; certainly
one of the perches, perhaps
Anthias anthias.

Exocoetus, IX 70; Blennius
Montagui, a type of Blenny.

Faber, see Zaeus.

588

INDEX OF FISHES

Galeos, XXXII 25; a Dogfish

or a Shark.
Garos, XXXI 93; XXXII 148;

Smaris smaris, picarel.
Gerricula, XXXII 148; Smaris

smaris, picarel.
Girres, XXXII 148; Smaris

smaris, picarel.
Gladius = Xiphias, IX 3, 54;

XXXII 15, 145; Xiphias

gladius, Sword-fish.
Glanis or glanus, IX 145,

XXXII 128, 148; Parasilurus

aristotelis, a species of cat-

fish.
Glauciscus, XXXII 129, 148;

unknown.
Glaucus, IX 58; XXXII 153;

unknown; may be a Dogfish

or a Shark.
*Glycymaris, XXXII 147; a

mollusc, probably Yenus ver-

rucosa; certainly a Clam.
Gobio, IX 175; here perhaps

Baleophthalmus Boddaerti ; IX

176, perhaps the lung-fish;

177; here perhaps Gobius

exanthematicus, cf. XXXII

146; various Gobies, especi-

ally Gobius niger; includes

Gobio gobio, the fresh-water

Gudgeon.
Gonger, see Conger.

*Halipleumon, XXXII 149 =

Pulmo, a Jellyfish (Medusa).
Helacatenes, XXXII 149;

(doubtful reading), perhaps

sharks or dogfish.
*Helix, XXXII 147, a type of

spiral univalve of uncertain

identity.
Helops, XXXII 153; see Elops.
Hepar, XXXII 149; one of the

larger marine gadoids, per-

haps a species of Ling.
Hippocampus, XXXII 58, 67,

83, 93, 109, 113, 139, 149; cf.

IX 3; Hippocampus anti-

quorum, Sea-horse.
*Hippos perhaps hippeus"! (cf.

Aristot. H.A. iv, 2, 3.) IX 97;

Ocypoda cursor, Runner Crab ;

so also perhaps in XXXII

149.
Hippurus, IX 57; XXXII 149;

Coryphaena hippurus, the

" dolphin-fish."
Hirundo, IX 82; XXXII 149;

Exocoetus volitans, Flying

Blenny, or Dactylopterus voli-

tans, Flying Gurnard.
*Holothurium, IX 154; an un-

known zoophyte animal re-

garded as related to Sponges.
*Homo marinus, IX 10 ; XXXII

144; unknown; African

Manatee?
Hyaena, XXXII 154; Puntazzo

puntazzo, Puntazzo.

Ichthyocolla, XXXII 72; Great
Sturgeon, Acipenser huso; in
other passages isinglass, a
glue made from the Stur-
geon.

Ictinus, XXXII 149; probably
Dactylopterus volitans, Flying
Gurnard, or Exocoetus voli-
tans, Flying Blenny.

[Indian fish, IX 71. These are
especially Anabas scandens,
Climbing Perch.]

Isox, IX 44; Salmo salar,
Salmon.

lulis, XXXII 94, 149; a
Wrasse, probably Coris julis,
Rainbow-Wrasse.

Iulus, XXXII 152; unknown.

589

IXDEX OF FISHES

Lacertu* marinus, XXXII 140,
149; Pneumatophorus colias,
Spanish Maekerel, and Tra-
churus trachurus, Horse
Mackerel = Scad.

Lamia, IX 78; a large Shark,
such as Carcharias carchar-
odon, Great White Shark.

Lamirus, XXXII 149; perhaps
Pagellus erythrinus, Becker.

[Larius and Verbannus (Lakes),
fish in, IX 69; probably
species of the Carp familv,
Rutilus rutilus, Roach; Idus
idus, Ide; Abramis brama,
Bream.]

Laser, XXXI 25, 44; unknown.

Lelepris, XXXII 149; some
kind of Wrasse.

*Leo, XXXII 149; cf. IX 97;
Nephrops norvegicus, Lion-
crab.

*Lepas, XXXII 149; a Mediter-
ranean Limpet, especially
Patella Lamarckii or the like.

*Lepus marinus, IX 155; XX
223; XXIII 108; XXIV 18,
20; XXV 125; XXVIII 74,
129, 158, 159; XXIX 104;
XXXII 8, 9, 48, 54, 58, 59,
68, 70, 88, 104, 110, 135, 149;
Aplysia depilans, Sea Hare (a
" Sea Slug "). In IX 195 one
of the spiny Porcupine-fish of
the Indian Ocean is also rc-
ferred tn.

*Limax, IX 162; XXX 56, 79,
101, 139; generic term for
slugs.

*Locusta, IX 95-6, 158, 164,
185; XI 152; XXXVI 89;
PaUnurus eh phas, Crawfish.

*LolUgo, IX 83, 93, 158, 164;
XI 215, 258; XVIII 361;
XXXII 15, 149; Loligo

590

vulgaris and other Squids,
especially Ommatostrephcs

sagittatus, a large kind.

Lucerna, IX 82; = Uranoscopus.

Lupus, IX 57, 61, 169; X 193;

XXXI 15; Moronc labrax,
Sea Basse; XXXI 95, En-
graulis encrasicolus, Anchovy.

M

Maena, IX 81; XXVI 23, cf.
127; XXXI 83; XXXII 83,
88, 90, 100, 105, 107, 126, 128,
149; cf. 152; Mendole, Maena
maena, M. osbeckii, and M.
jusculum.

Maeotes, XXXII 149; cf. 146;
in Pliny, apparently small
horse-mackerel and young
tunny or pelamid.

*Maia, IX 97; a large Crab,
probably Maia squinado or
else Homola barbata; possibly
also Lithodes Maia.

[*Margarita, pearl, got from
Margaritifera margaritifera =
Mytilus margaritiferus, Pearl
Oyster, IX 106 ff. Inferior
pearls came from Mussels,
Oysters, Pinnas and Fresh-
water Mussels.]

Marris (better mariof), IX 75;
perhaps a type of sturgeon.

[Melaiidrya, IX 4S; cuts or cut-
lets of fieXdvBpvs, a kind of
large Tunny.]

Melanurus, XXXII 17. 149.
152; Oblade, Oblatamelanura.

Mena, see Maena.

Merula, XXXII 149; a species
of Wrasse, perhaps Uoi
rostratus.

Milvus = Ictinus, IX 82.

*Mitulus, Mytdlus, IX 160;

XXXII 95, 111, 149; Mytilus
edulis, Mussel.

INDEX OF FISHES

Mormyra, XXXII 152; Pagellus
mormyrus, a Sea-Bream.

Muqil, IX 54, 59, 144; X 193;
XI 185; XXXII 104; several
forms of Grey Mullet, especi-
ally Mugil capito and M.
cephalus.

Mullus, IX 64, 66, 67 ; XXXII
8, 25, 44, 70, 91, 104, 120, 127,
138; Red Mullet (Surmullet),
Mullus barbatus and the
larger M. surmuletus.

*Mvrena, Muraena, IX 73,
Petromyzon marinus, Sea
Lamprey; IX 76, 77; mostly
Lampetra planeri, River Lam-
prey. In all other passages
Muraena helena, the fish
Murrv, Moray is meant: IX
71 (76), 89, 169; XXVIII 14;
XXXII 12, 13, 14. 57.

*Murex, V 12; VI 201; IX 80,
102, 125, 130 ff., 160, 164;
XXII 3; XXIII 83; XXXII
68, 78, 82, 98, 106, 108, 127,
129, 149; Purple-Shell-fish,
especially Murex brandaris,
M. trunculus, and Purpura
haemastoma. In XXXII 84
probably Turritella commu-
nis is meant. In IX 80 it
appears that a Cowrie (pro-
bably Trivia monacha or
Cypraea lurida) is described.
Musculus, IX 186; cf. XI 165;
Naucrates ductor, Pilot-fish;
see also next item.
Musculus marinus, XI 165;
XXXII 144; here Pliny
confuses the little Pilot-fish,
Naucrates ductor, with
*\Vhalebone Whales; these
would bo Eubalena glacialis,
Black Right Whale; Mega-
ptera nodosa, Hump-backed
Whale; and species of
Balaenoptera, Rorqual.

Mus marinus, IX 71; Balistes
capriscus, File-fish, or Tetro-
don lineatus. In IX 166,
probably by error for emys.
The mistake perliaps arose in
Greek from mis-reading or
mis-hearing rj 8' ifxvs or o 8'
ifxvs as if it were rj 8e (jlvs or
d Se [mvs.

Mustela, IX 63, principally the
Hake and Rockling, Phycis
sp. and Motellasp.; asafresh-
water fish, chiefly Lota lota,
Burbot, but sometimes *Lam-
petra fluviatilis, Lamper-eel.

*Mya, IX 115; species of Unio,
Freshwater Mussel.

*Myax, XXXII 95-98; perhaps
Mytilus edulis, Mussel.

*Myiscus, XXXII 98, 149;
probably Modiolus barbatus,
Bearded Mussel.

Myrus = Zmyrus.

*Mys, XXXII 149 = Mitulus.

*Mytilus, see Mitulus.

Myxonl, see Bacchus.

N

*Nauplius, IX 94 = Nauti-

lus.
*Nautilus, IX 88, 94 (Nauplius),

103; (Veneria) Argonauta

Argo, Argonaut = Paper Nau-

tilus.
Novacula, XXXII 14; perhaps

Xyrichthys novacula, a species

of wrasse.

O

Oculata, XXXII 149; probably

Oblata melanura, Oblade.
Odinolytes, XXXII 6 =

*Onyx, XXXII 103, 134; species
of Razor-shell, Solen; and of

59i

INDKX OF FISHES

Piddock. Pholas or Litho-
domus.

Ophidion, XXXII 109, 149; an
Eel or a related fish ; includes
perhaps Oxystomus serpens.

Orbis, XXXII 14, 149, 150;
probably a species of Globe-
fish.

*Orca, IX 12-14; XXXII 144;
probably Orcinus orca, Gram-
pus, Killer Whale.

Orcynus, XXXII 149; a large
specimen of a Tunny.

Orphus, IX 57; XXXII 152;
either Serranus gigas, a Sea
Perch or Polyprion ameri-
canus, Jew-fish.

Orthagoriscus, see Porcus.

*0strea or Ostreae, II 109; V
180; IX 40, 52, 154, 160, 161,
168; X 129, 189, 192, 195;
XI 129, 139, 226; XXVIII
66; XXXI 96; XXXII 59,
60, 64, 93, 149; a general
term for bivalve molluscs, but
properly Ostrea edulis, Oyster.
See especially II 109; 1X154,
168; X 129, 189, 192, 195;
XI 139; XXVIII 66; XXXI
96; XXXII 59-65.

*0tia, XXXII 149; Haliotis
tuberculata, Sea-Ear or Ormer.

*Ozaena, IX 89; an ill-smelling
species of Octopus, probably
Eledone moschata and possibly
also E. Aldrovandi.

*Pagurus, IX 97; Pagurus

bernhardus, and other Hermit

Crabs.
\Paphlagonia, somo fishes in, IX

178; probably Cobitis fossilis,

a kind of Loach.]
[*Parasites on fish, and other

" Sea Fleas," and " Sea-lice,"

all Crustaceans, IX 154. See

also Scorpion-like parasites;

Pcdiculi; Phthir.]
Parus, XXXII 152; unknown.
Passer, IX 72; Pleuronectes

platessa, Plaice, or else

Platichthys flesus, Flounder.
Pastinaca, IX 155; XXII 146;

XXVIII 162; XXXI 25, 44;

XXXII 57, 79, 83, 133;

Trygon pastinaca, Sting Ray.
*Pecten, IX 101, 103, 147, 160,

162; XI 139, 267; XXXII

103, 150; species of Scallop,

especially Chlamys = Pecten

varius and C. Jacobaeus.
*Pectunculus, IX 84; XXXII

70, 150; a small or young

Scallop.
*Pediculi marini, XXXII 77,

89; apparently Sea-lice, small

crustaceans.
Pelamys, IX 47; a year-old

tunny; XXXII 105, 107, 146,

149, 150, 151; a species of
Tunny, Sarda sarda, Pelamid ;
sometimes smaller species or
verv young Tunny.

*Peloris, XXXII 99, 147; pro-
bably Psammobia vespertina,
Sunset-shell.

■>.*Pentadaetyli, XXXII 147;
unknown.

Perca, XXXII 145; Perca
fluviatilis, Perch, and Para-
centropristis scriba and related
species, Sea Perch; IX 57;
XXXII 107, 116, 126, 130,
Paracentropristis scriba.

*Percis? Pegris?, XXXII 150;
unknown mollusc.

*Perna, Pin{n)a, IX 115, 142;
XXXII 150, 154; a bivalve
mollusc, Pinna nobilis or else
P. fragilis, Pinna-shell.

Phagrus, phager, IX 57 ; XXXII

150, a species of Sea Bream,

59-

INDEX OF FISHES

perhaps Pagrus pagrus ;
XXXII 113, probably Hydro-
cyon forskalii.

*Phocae = Vituli marini.

*Phthir, XXXII 150; not, it
seems, as D'Arcy Thompson
thought, Echeneis remora and
E. naucrates, Sucking Fish;
but some Sea-louse, a
crustacean.

Phycis, IX 81; XXXII 150, a
species of Wrasse, probably
Crenilabrus pavo.

*Physeter, IX 8; XXXII 144,
cf. IX 4; probably Sperm
Whale, Physeter catodon —
macrocephalus.

*Pin(n)a, see Perna.

*Pinoteres, IX 98; Pagurus
bernhardus and other Hermit
Crabs; also Pinnotheres pin-
notheres, Pinna-Guard Crab;
in IX 142 we have the Pinna-
Guard Crab and also the
carid Pontonia pinnophylax =
tyrrhena; cf. XXXII 150.

Piscatrix, IX 143; Lophius
piscatorius, Angler-fish.

Pistrix, XXXII 144; Pristis
antiquorum, Saw-fish.

*Platanista, IX 46; Platanista
Qangetica, Gangetic Dolphin,
Susu.

*Polypus, IX 40, 71, 78, 83,
85-93, 158, 163, 185; X 194,
195; XI 133, 199, 225, 258;
XXXII 12, 121, 150; species
of Octopus, especially Octopus
vulgaris.

Pompili (accompanying ships),
IX 51, a shoal of Tunny;
Pliny errs. Tunny-shoals do
not follow ships. These were
pilot-fish, wrongly identified
as Tunny. XXXII 153,
Naucrates ductor, Pilot-fish ;
IX 88 (where pompilus is a

mistake for pontilus =

ttovtLXos). *Argonauta argo,

Argonaut = Paper Nautilus.
Porculus marinus, IX = Porcus.
Porcus, XXXII 19, cf. 56, 150;

Centrina salviani.
Pristis, IX 4, 8, 41; Pristis

antiquorum, Sawfish ; and

other quite different fish, and

even *Whales.
Psetta, IX 57; Pleuronectes and

Platichthys sp., Plaice and

Flounder.
*Pulmo, IX 154; XXXII 102,

111, etc; species of Jellyfish

(Medusa).
*Purpurae, IX 124-141; see

Murex.

R

Raia, IX 78, 144, 161; Raja

batis and similar kinds of

Skate or Ray.
Rana, IX 143; Lophius pisca-

torius, Angler-fish.
Rhine = Squatus, XXXII 150;

Squatina squatina, Angel-

fish.
[Rhinobatus], IX 161; Rhino-

batos rhinobatos, wrongly al-

leged to be a hybrid between

Angel-fish and Skate.
Rhombus, IX 52, 72, 144, 169;

XXXII 102, 145, 150; Scoph-

thalmus maximus, Turbot.
Rota, IX 8; probably Ortha-

goriscus mola.
Rubellio, XXXII 138; probably

Pagellus erythrinus, the Bec-

ker.

*Saepia, see Sepia.
Salax?, XXXII 151; unknown.
Salmo, IX 68; Salmo salar,
Salmon.

593

INDEX OE FISHES

Salpa, IX 68, 162; XXXII 151;

Sarpa salpa, Saupe.
Sarda, XXXII 46, Sardina

pilchardus, Sardine or Pil-

chard; XXXII 151, a large

pelajm/s. q.v.
Sargus, 1X65, 162, 182; XXXII

151; Diplodus sargus, Sargue,

Sargo; and D. vulgaris.
Saurus, XXXII 89; Trachurus

trachurus, Horse Mackerel.
Scarus, 1X62; XI 162; XXXII

11, 151; XXXVII 187;

Sparisoma cretense, Parrot-

\\ rasse.
Sciadeus, XXXII 151; Sciaena

aquila, Maigre and related

species.
Sciaena, IX 57; XXXII 106,

151 = Sciadeus.
Scias, XXXII 151 = Sciadeus.
*Scilla = Squilla.
*Scolopendra, IX 145; XXXII

151; species of Nereid worm.
Scomber, IX 49; XXXII 151;

Scomber scombrus, Mackerel.
Scorpaena = Scorpio.
Scorpio, XX 150; XXXII 44,

67, 70, 102, 127-128; Scor-

paena scroja and S. porcus,

Sculpin.
*[Scorpion-like parasites on

Tunny, Brachiella thynni;

on Sword-fish, Pennella filosa,

IX 54].
*Sepia, IX 83, 84, 93 (its eggs

perhaps IX 3, uva); Sepia

officinalis and other Cuttle-

fish.
Serra, IX 3; XXXII 145;

Pristis antiquorum, Sawfish.
Silurus, V 51, Lates niloticus,

Xile Pereh ; VI 205, unknown;

IX 44, Lates niloticus; 1X45,

Silurus glanis, Sheatfish; IX

58, 165, Parasilurus aristotelis;

XVIII 293, unknown;

XXXII 90, 93, 94, 104, 111,

119, 125, 126, 131, probably

all Lates niloticus; XXX II

145, unknown.
*Shiiones = Delphini.
Smaris (Ztnaris), XXXII 108,

128; Smaris smaris, Picarel;

and related species.
Smyrus, XXXII 151, see Zmy-

rus.
Solea, IX 52, 57, 72; XXXII

102, 151; Pleuronectes solea,

Sole, and allied species.
*Solen, X 192; XI 139;

XXXII 151; species of the

bivalve mollusc Razor Shell,

especially Solen coarctatus.
Sorus, XXXII 151; Scombresox

rondeletii, Skipjack, Skipper.
Sphyraena, XXXII 154; Sphy-

raena sphyraena, Barracuda.
*Spondylus, XXXII 154; Spon-

dylus gaedaropus, Thorny

" Oyster."
*Spongea, IX 146, 150; XXXI

123-131; species of Sponge,

especially Spongia officinalis

and its variety mollissima.
Squalus, IX 78; smaller Dog-

fish and Sharks.
Squatina, IX 40, 78, 144, 161,

162; Squatinasquatina,Aage\-

fish.
Squatus, XXXII 150; =

Squatina.
*Squilla,Scilla, IX 158; XI 152;

XXXII 151, species of Palae-

mon, Prawn, and Crangon,

Shrimp; IX 142, probably

Pontonia pinnophylax =

tyrrhena.
*Stellae marinae, IX 154, 183;

XXXII 44, 151; various

Starfish.
*Strombus, XXXII 117, 129,

151; some species of spiral-

shclled mollusc.

594

INDEX OF FISHES

Sudis = Sphyraena.
Synodus, XXXVII 182; Dentex
dentex, a Sea-Bream.

*Teredo, XVI 220; Teredo
navalis, Ship-worm.

*Tethea, XXXII 13, 93, 99, 151;
species of Sea-squirt, espe-
cially Phallusia mammil-
lata.

Thranis, XXXII 151; Xiphias
gladius, Sword-fish.

Thrissa, Thassa, Thessa, XXXII
151; probably Alosa vulgaris,
Shad.

*Thursiones, IX 34; species of
Dolphin, perhaps Tursiops
truncatus; or a porpoise.

Thynnis = Thynnns.

Thynnus (pelamys), IX 47 ff.;
X 210; XXXII 76, 87, 95,
135, 145; Thynnus thynnus,
Sarda sarda, and other kinds
of Tunny; on the coasts of
Spain and France chiefly
Germo alalunga, Germon =
Albacore.

Torpedo, IX 57, 78, 143, 162,
165; XXXII 7, 94, 102, 105,
133, 135, 139, 151; Torpedo
marmorata, Electric Ray; the
references in XXXII may
apply in part to Melapteru-
rus electricus, Electric Cat-
fish.

Tragus, XXXII 152, a male
Maena, q.v.

Trichias, IX 52, 162; a Sar-
dine or a Sprat such as Sprat-
tus pontica or S. sprattus;
or Sardina pilchardus, Pil-
chard.

*Tridacnum, XXXII 63; a
great mollusc, Tridacna squa-
mosa.

Triglis, XXVIII 82 ; = Mullus.
Tritomus or Tritomum. XXXII

149, 150, 151; as a fish-name,

usually = pelamys.
Trochus, IX 166; = Rota.
Trygon, = Pastinaca.
Turdus, IX 52; XXXII 151;

a species of Wrasse, perhaps

Crenilabrus pavo.

U

*Unguis, IX 101 = Dactylus.

Uranoscopus, XXXII 69, 146;
Uranoscopus scaber, Stargazer.

*Urtica, IX 68; XXVI 51, 88;
XXXII 135, 146; cf. XXXI
95 (i) Sea Anemone, espe-
cially Tealia felina = Actinia
crassicornis, A. equina, and
A. cari; (ii) IX 146, probably
the sea-nettle, Actinia sp.

*Uva, IX 3; XXXII 138, 151;
probably egg of Cuttle-fish.

*Veneria, IX 103; XXXII 151;
Argonauta Argo, Argonaut =
Paper Nautilus; but it is
likely that the name was given
also to Cypraea tigris, C.
pantherina and other large
Cowries; cf. IX 80.

* Vermes, IX 146 ; huge Worms in
Ganges, perhaps an exag-
gerated report of Conger Eels
or even Leeches.

*Vitulus marinus, II 146; VIII
111; IX 19, 41, 50; X 128
XI 137, 151, 171, 206, 215
235; XXVI 23, 113, 114
XXVIII 96; XXXII 57, 83
110, 112, 116, 120, 130, 144
usually Monachus monachus
IVIonkSeal, also Phoca vitulina
Common Seal.

595

INDEX OF FISHES

Yalpes marina, IX 145; Alop- Z

ias vulpes, Thresher Shark. Zam^ IX 6g> XXXII 148;

Zeus faber, John Dory.
**■ Zmaris = Smaris.

Xiphias, XXXII 15, 151; Xi- Zmyrus, IX 76 (XXXII 151,
phias gladius, Sword-fish. smyrus): Lycodontis unicolor.

596

Printed est Great Britain by

rlchard clay ast> company, ltd.,

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Cicero: De Natura Deorum and Academica. H. Rackham.
Cicero: De Officiis. Walter Miller.
Cicero: De Republica and De Legibus ; Somnium Scipionis.

Clinton W. Keyes.

ClCERO: DK SENECTUTE, De AMICITIA, De DlVINATIONE.

W. A. Falconer.
Cickro: In Catilinam, Pro Flacco, Pro Murena, Pro Sulla.

Louis E. Lord.
Cicero: Letters to Atticus. E. 0. Winstedt. 3 Vols.
Cicero: Letters to His Friends. W. Glynn Williams. 3

Vols.
Cicero: Philippics. Wt. C. A. Ker.
Cicero: Pro Archia Post Reditum, De Domo, De Harus-

picum Responsis, Pro Plancio. N. H. Watts.
Cicero: Pro Caecina, Pro Leoe Manilia, Pro Cluentio,

Pro Rabirio. H. Grose Hodge.
Cicero: Pro Caelio, De Provinciis Consularibus, Pro

Balbo. R. Gardner.
Cicero : Pro Milone, In Pisonem, Pro Scauro, Pro Fonteio,

Pro Rabirio Postumo, Pro Marcello, Pro Lioario, Pro

Rege Deiotaro. N. H. Watts.
Cicero: Pro Quinctio, Pro Roscio Amerino, Pro Roscio

Comoedo, Contra Rullum. J. H. Freese.
Cicero: Pro Sestio, In Vatinium. R. Gardner.
Cicero: Tusculan Disputations. J. E. King.
Cicero: Verrine Orations. L. H. G. Greenwood. 2 Vols.
Claudian. M. Platnauer. 2 Vols.
Columella: De Re Rustica. De Arboribus. H. B. Ash,

E. S. Forster and E. Heffner. 3 Vols.
Curtius, Q.: History of Alexander. J. C. Rolfe. 2 Vols.
Florus. E. S. Forster; and Cornelius Nepos. J. C. Rolfe.
Frontinus : Stratagems and Aqueducts. C. E. Bennett and

M. B. McElwain.
Fronto: Correspondence. C. R. Haines. 2 Vols.
Gellius, J. C. Rolfe. 3 Vols.
Horace: Odes and Epodes. C. E. Bennett.
Horace : Satires, Epistles, Ars Poetica. H. R. Fairclough.
Jerome: Selected Letters. F. A. Wright.
Juvenal and Persius. G. G. Ramsay.
Lrw. B. O. Foster, F. G. Moore, Evan T. Sage, and A. C.

Schlesinger and R. M. Geer (General Index). 14 Vols.
Lucan. J. D. Duff.
Lucretius. W. H. D. Rouse.
Martial. W. C. A. Ker. 2 Vols.
Minor Latin Poets: from Publilius Syrus to Rutilius

Namatianus, including Grattius, Calpurnius Siculus,

Nemesianus, Avianus, and others with " Aetna ': and the

" Phoenix." J. Wight Duff and Arnold M. Duff.
Ovid: The Art of Love and Other Poems. J. H. Mozley.
2

Ovid : Fasti. Sir James G. Frazer.

Ovid: Heroides and Amores. Grant Showerman.

Ovid: Metamorphoses. F. J. Miller. 2 Vols.

Ovid: Tristia and Ex Ponto. A. L. Wheeler.

PERSITJS. Cf. JuVENAL.

Petrontus. M. Heseltine; Seneca; Apocolocyntosis.

W. H. D. Rouse.
Plautus. Paul Nixon. 5 Vols.
Pliny: Letters. Melmoth's Translation revised by W. M. L.

Hutchinson. 2 Vols.
Pliny: Natural History. H. Rackham and W. H. S. Jones.

10 Vols. Vols. I.-V. and IX. H. Rackham. Vols. VI. and

VII. W. H. S. Jones. Vol. X. D. E. Eichholz.
Propertius. H. E. Butler.
Prudentius. H. J. Thomson. 2 Vols.
Quintilian. H. E. Butler. 4 Vols.
Rematns of Old Latin. E. H. Warmington. 4 Vols. Vol. I.

(Ennius and Caecilius.) Vol. II. (Livius, Naevtus,

Pacuvtus, Accius.) Vol. III. (Lucilius and Laws of XII

Tables.) (Archaic Inscriptions.)
Sallust. J. C. Rolfe.

Scriptores Historiae Augustae. D. Magie. 3 Vols.
Seneca: Apocolocyntosis. Cf. Petronius.
Seneca: Epistulae Morales. R. M. Gummere. 3 Vols.
Seneca: Moral Essays. J. W. Basore. 3 Vols.
Seneca: Tragedies. F. J. Miller. 2 Vols.
SrDONius: Poems and Letters. W. B. Anderson. 2 Vols.
SrLius Italicus. J. D. Duff. 2 Vols.
Statius. J. H. Mozley. 2 Vols.
Suetonius. J. C. Rolfe. 2 Vols.
Tacitus: Dialogues. Sir Wm. Peterson. Agricola and

Germania. Maurice Hutton.
Tacitus : Histories and Annals. C. H. Moore and J. Jackson.

4 Vols.
Terence. John Sargeaunt. 2 Vols.
Tertullian: Apologia and De Spectaculis. T. R. Glover.

Mtnucius Felix. G. H. Rendall.
Valerius Flaccus. J. H. Mozley.
Varro: De Lingua Latina. R. G. Kent. 2 Vols.
Velleius Paterculus and Res Gestae Divi Augusti. F. W.

Shipley.
Virgil. H. R. Fairclough. 2 Vols.
Vitruvtus: De Abchitectura. F. Granger. 2 Vols.

Greek Authors

Achtlles Tatdjs. S. Gaselee.

Aelian: On the Natuke of Animals. A. F. Scholfield. 3

Vols.
Aeneas Tacticus, Asclepiodotus and Onasander. The

Illinois Greek Club.
Aeschines. C. D. Adams.
Aeschylus. H. Woir Smyth. 2 Vols.
Alciphron, Aelian, Philostratus : Letters. A. R. Benner

and F. H. Fobes.
Andocides, Antiphon, Cf. Minor Attic Orators.
Apollodorus. Sir James G. Frazer. 2 Vols.
Apollonius Rhodius. R. C. Seaton.
The Apostolic Fathers. Kirsopp Lake. 2 Vols.
Appian: Roman History. Horace White. 4 Vols.
Aratus. Cf. Callimachus.
Aristophanes. Benjamin Bickley Rogers. 3 Vols. Verse

trans.
Aristotle: Art of R,hetoric. J. H. Freese.
Aristotle: Athenian Constitution, Eudemian Ethics,

Vices and Virtues. H. Rackham.
Aristotle: Generation of Animals. A. L. Peck.
Aristotle: Metaphysics. H. Tredennick. 2 Vols.
Aristotle: Meterolooica. H. D. P. Loe.
Aristotle: Minor Wtorks. W. S. Hett. On Colours, On

Things Heard, On Physiognomies, On Plants, On Marvellous

Things Heard, Mechanical Problems, On Indivisible Lines,

On Situations and Names of Winds, On Melissus, Xenophanes,

and Gorgias.
Aristotle: Nicomachean Ethics. H. Rackham.
Aristotle: Oeconomica and Magna Moralia. G. C. Arm-

strong; (with Metaphysics, Vol. II.).
Aristotle: On the Heavens. W. K. C. Guthrie.
Aristotle: On the Soul. Parva Naturalia. On Breath.

W. S. Hett.
Aristotle: Cateoories, On Interpretation, Prior

Analytics. H. P. Cooke and H. Tredennick.
Aristotle: Posterior Analytics, Topics. H. Tredennick

and E. S. Forster.
Aristotle: On Sophistical Refutations.

On Coming to be and Passing Away, On the Cosmos. E. S.

Forster and D. J. Furley.
Aristotle: Parts of Animals. A. L. Peck; Motiox ani»

Progression of Animals. E. S. Forster.
■i

Aristotle: Physics. Rev. P. Wicksteed and F. M. Corniord.

2 Vols.
Aristotle: Poetics and Longinus. W. Hamilton Fyfe;

Demetrius on Style. W. Rhys Roberts.
Aristotle: Politics. H. Rackham.
Aristotle: Problems. W. S. Hett. 2 Vols.
Aristotle: Rhetorica Ad Alexandrum (with Problems.

Vol. II.) H. Rackham.
Arrian: History of Alexander and Indica. Rev. E. Iliffe

Robson. 2 Vols.
Athenaeus: Deipnosophistae. C. B. Gulick. 7 Vols.
St. Basil: Letters. R. J. Deferrari. 4 Vols.
Callimachus : Fragments. C. A. Trypanis.
Callimachus, Hymns and Epigrams, and Lycophron. A. W.

Mair; Aratus. G. R. Mair.
Clement of Alexandria. Rev. G. W. Butterworth.

COLLUTHUS. Cf. OPPIAN.

Daphnis and Chloe. Thornley's Translation revised by

J. M. Edmonds; and Parthenius. S. Gaselee.
Demosthenes I.: Olynthiacs, Philippics and Mlnor Ora-

tions. I.-XVII. and XX. J. H. Vince.
Demosthenes II.: De Corona and De Falsa Legatione.

C. A. Vince and J. H. Vince.
Demosthenes III.: Meidias, Androtion, Aristocrates,

Timocrates and Aristogeiton, I. and II. J. H. Vince.
Demosthenes IV.- VI.: Private Orations and In Neaeram.

A. T. Murray.
Demosthenes VII. : Funeral Speech, Erotic Essay, Exordia

and Letters. N. W. and N. J. DeWitt.
Dio Cassius: Roman History. E. Cary. 9 Vols.
Dio Chrysostom. J. W. Cohoon and H. Lamar Crosby. 5 Vols.
Diodorus Siculus. 12 Vols. Vols. I.-VI. C. H. Oldfather.

Vol. VII. C. L. Sherman. Vols. IX. and X. R. M. Geer.

Vol. XI. F. Walton.
Diogenes Laeritius. R. D. Hicks. 2 Vols.
Dionysdjs of Halicarnassus : Roman Antiquities. Spel-

man's translation revised by E. Cary. 7 Vols.
Epictetus. W. A. Oldfather. 2 Vols.
Euripides. A. S. Way. 4 Vols. Verse trans.
Eusebius: Ecclesiastical History. Kirsopp Lake and

J. E. L. Oulton. 2 Vols.
Galen: On the Natural Faculties. A. J. Brock.
The Greek Anthology. W. R. Paton. 5 Vols.
Greek Elegy and Iambus with the Anacreontea. J. M.

Edmonds. 2 Vols.

5

The Greek Bucolic Poets (Theocritus, Bion, Moschus).

J. M. Edmonds.
Greek Mathematical Works. Ivor Thomas. 2 Vols.
Herodes. Cf. Theophrastus : Characters.
Herodotus. A. D. Godley. 4 Vols.

Hesiod and The Homeric Hymns. H. G. Evelyn White.
Hippocrates and the Fragments of Heracleitus. W. H. S.

Jones and E. T. Withington. 4 Vols.
Homer: Iliad. A. T. Murray. 2 Vols.
Homer: Odyssey. A. T. Murray. 2 Vols.
Isaeus. E. W. Forster.

Isocrates. George Norlin and LaRue Van Hook. 3 Vols.
St. John Damascene: Barlaam and Ioasaph. Rev. G. R.

Woodward and Harold Mattingly.
Josephus. H. St. J. Thackeray and Ralph Marcus. 9 Vols.

Vols. I.-VII.
Julian. Wilmer Cave Wright. 3 Vols.
Lucian. 8 Vols. Vols. I.-V. A. M. Harmon. Vol. VI. K.

Kilburn. Vol. VII. M. D. Macleod.
Lycophron. Cf. Callimachus.
Lyra Graeca. J. M. Edmonds. 3 Vols.
Lysias. W. R. M. Lamb.
Manetho. W. G. Waddell: Ptolemy: Tetrabiblos. F. E.

Robbins.
Marcus Aurelius. C. R. Haines.
Menander. F. G. Allinson.
Minor Attic Orators (Antiphon, Andocides, Lycurgus,

Demades, Dinarchus, Hypereides). K. J. Maidment and

J. O. Burrt. 2 Vols.
Nonnos: Dionysiaca. W. H. D. Rouse. 3 Vols.
Oppian, Colluthus, Tryphiodorus. A. W. Mair.
Papyri. Non-Literary Selections. A. S. Hunt and C. C.

Edgar. 2 Vols. Literary Selections (Poetry). D.L. Page.
Parthenius. Cf. Daphnis and Chloe.
Pausanias: Description of Greece. W. H. S. Jones. 4

Vols. and Companion Vol. arranged by R. E. Wycherley.
Philo. 10 Vbls. Vols. I.-V.; F. H. Colson and Rev. G. H.

Whitaker. Vols. VI.-IX.; F. H. Colson. Vol. X. F. H.

Colson and the Rev. J. W. Earp.
Philo: two supplementary Vols. (Translation only.) Ralph

Marcus.
Philostratus : The Life of Apollonius of Tyana. F. C.

Conybeare. 2 Vols.
Philostratus : Imagines; Callistratus : Descriptions. A.

Fairbanks.

fi

Philostratus and Eunapius : Lives oftheSophists. Wilmer

Cave Wright.
Pindab. Sir J. E. Sandys.
Plato: Charmides, Alcibiades, Hipparchus, The Lovers,

Theages, Minos and Epinomis. W. R. M. Lamb.
Plato: Cratylus, Pakmenides, Greater Hippias, Lesser

Hippias. H. N. Fowler.
Plato: Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Phaedo, Phaedrus.

H. N. Fowler.
Plato : Laches, Protagoras, Meno, Euthydemus. W. R. M.

Lamb.
Plato: Laws. Rev. R. G. Bury. 2 Vols.
Plato: Lysis, Symposium, Gorgias. W. R. M. Lamb.
Plato: Republic. Paul Shorey. 2 Vols.
Plato: Statesman, Philebus. H. N. Fowler; Ion. W. R. M.

Lamb.
Plato: Theaetetus and Sophist. H. N. Fowler.
Plato: Timaeus, Critias, Clitopho, Menexenus, Epistulae.

Rev. R. G. Bury.
Plutarch: Moralia. 15 Vols. Vols. I.-V. F. C. Babbitt.

Vol. VI. W. C. Helmbold. Vol. VII. P. H. De Lacy and

B. Einarson. Vol. IX. E. L. Minar, Jr., F. H. Sandbach,
W. C. Helmbold. Vol. X. H. N. Fowler. Vol. XII. H.
Cherniss and W. C. Helmbold.

Plutarch: The Parallel Lives. B. Perrin. HVols.

Polybius. W. R. Paton. 6 Vols.

Procopius : History of the Wars. H. B. Dewing. 7 Vols.

Ptolemy: Tetrabiblos. Cf. Manetho.

Quintus Smyrnaeus. A. S. Way. Verse trans.

Sextus Empiricus. Rev. R. G. Bury. 4 Vols.

Sophocles. F. Storr. 2 Vols. Verse trans.

Strabo: Geography. Horace L. Jones. 8 Vols.

Theophrastus : Characters. J. M. Edmonds. Herodes,

etc. A. D. Knox.
Theophrastus : Enquiry into Plants. Sir Arthur Hort,

Bart. 2 Vols.
Thucydides. C. F. Smith. 4 Vols.
Tryphiodorus. Cf. Oppian.

Xenophon: Cyropaedia. Walter Miller. 2 Vols.
Xenophon : Hellenica, Anabasis, Apology, and Symposium.

C. L. Brownson and O. J. Todd. 3 Vols.

Xenophon : Memorabilia and Oeconomicus. E. C. Marchant.
Xenophon : Scripta Minora. E. C. Marchant.

IN PREPARATION

Greek Authors

Aristotle: Historia Animalium. A. L. Peck.
Plotinus: A. H. Armstrong.

Latin Authors

Babrius and Phaedrus. Ben E. Perry.

DESCRIPTIVE PROSPECTUS ON APPLICATION

London WILLIAM HEINEMANN LTD

Cambridge, Mass. HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS

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